Black Blooded Prince
by Soul-out-Fairy
Summary: This time Liz and Soul play matchmakers. Patty's in love but she needs a little help from her big sis if she's going to win her Prince Charming. Primary couple is PattyxChrona but there are tidbits of KiMa, SoLi, and TsuStar.
1. Chapter 1: All Grown Up

Soul watched from his safe place at the top of the stairs as Liz and Patty checked the house to make sure every painting was symmetrical with the floor, there were equal amounts of everything on either side of the first hall, and that they had every mess cleaned up to perfection. Liz was wiping furiously at a stain on the kitchen counter when a knock came to the door. Soul ran down the stairs humming a little tune as he did so. Liz grabbed his wrist and glared at him.

"Don't even think about it," she hissed.

"We can't leave them standing out there, it's raining Liz," he pouted childishly.

"_I'll_ get the door," she said as she put the rag in his hand and walked briskly out to get the door.

Soul shook his head and went to continue the assault when he heard Liz coming back up into the living room. She was laughing but he didn't hear the familiar voices of either meister.

"You gave me a heart attack when I heard that knock!" she was saying. "We're expecting them back from their honeymoon any time now."

"I-I'm sorry," came a familiar reply, "I didn't mean to scare you..."

"I know," Liz replied as they came into the kitchen. "Hey, where's Patty? Chrona's here."

"I'll get her," Soul said, dropping the rag. He walked up to the bottom of the stairs and shouted, "Hey, Patty, Chrona's here!"

Chrona sweatdropped when he came back and picked up the rag again. Liz was glaring at him but he didn't notice pass the stained counter. Patty came down in a cute, dark blue, spaghetti string top and jeans. Liz stared as she walked over to Chrona smiling like a cheshire cat.

"I'll be back later you guys," she said as she took his hand and proceeded out.

"O-Okay," Liz managed to muster up.

"We'll see you when you get back," Soul called after them.

"Um, goodbye," Chrona said before disappearing around the corner.

Liz waited until she heard the door close before turning on Soul and slapping him in the head.

"Ow! Liz, what was that for?" he snapped as he held his head.

She didn't reply but stumbled into the livingroom and fell out dramatically on the couch. Soul dropped the rag, still rubbing his aching head, and went to the couch to comfort his conflicted girlfriend. Liz stared at the cieling with an expression he only recognized as one that came before she wanted to talk. Things always got complicated after that.

"Soul, please tell me you saw what Patty was wearing," she droned.

"Yes," he answered cautiously. "Was there something wrong with it?"

"Of course you managed to completely overlook the way it drew so much attention to her-"

"Shoulders," Soul interjected quickly.

Liz rolled her eyes. "Yes, her _shoulders_ were so obvious in that top! I've never seen her dress like that before..."

"Well, she is a woman now Liz," Soul said. "There's no reason to freak out about a little cleavage- I-I mean shoulder..."

"That's not the point Soul," she sighed as she sat up so he could sit next to her. "She was just going to hang out with Chrona. She wasn't really over dressed, but, I mean, Chrona was wearing black jeans and a t-shirt. She looked like she was going on a date while he looked like he was going to buy groceries. What's going on Soul?"

He stared back at her heated expression with a simple, clueless expression of his own and shook his head. She threw up her hands in frustration. Soul flinched away from her when she looked back at him. Liz was a fairly docile woman until she got frustrated, much like she was now. Then she was prone to hitting him like back in the kitchen. Liz's shoulders dropped and her face softened. Soul took her hand as she pouted.

"What's wrong Liz?" he inquired. "You were mad then you were worried and now you look like you're about to cry. What's up?"

Liz hugged him around his neck and rested her face in the crook of his neck. "Oh, Soul..."

"Oh my- Liz...are you pregnant?!"

She slapped him in the back of the head and he put his arms around her middle.

"If it's a boy can we name him Gauge?"

"Soul! Stop playing around, I'm worried about Patty and Chrona," Liz pouted.

"Alright, alright," Soul chuckled. "But you didn't say no."

"I'm not pregnant Soul."

"If you say so. What's the problem with Patty now?"

"I'm not sure, but, I think she likes Chrona. She hangs out with him whenever she has nothing to do and she asks me to borrow jewelry when she goes out."

"Does she talk about him all the time?"

"No, I never hear her talking obsessively about him. She does stare off into space a lot though."

"It is Patty we're takling about here Liz," Soul reminded her.

Liz looked up when they heard the front door close.

"Sounds like their back," Soul said.

Maka and Kid walked in carrying their bags and laughing. Liz let go of Soul and jumped up to help.

"Welcome back you two," Liz greeted them with a small smile. "I'm gonna guess you had a good time from those smiles."

"Hi Liz," Maka giggled. "Yes, it was wonderful."

"I'm glad to see the mansion's stille in one piece," Kid said with an approving nod.

"Of course! Patty and I aren't animals you know," Liz replied.

"Where is Patty?" Kid asked, looking around for the bright eyed pistol.

"She's out with Chrona," Soul stated as he got up to take their bags. "She's been hanging out with him pretty much everyday since you two left."

"Thank you Soul," Maka smiled. "She must be trying not to get inbetween you two."

"I know," Liz sighed. "I don't have a problem with that, but you should have seen what she was wearing! It was cute, but-"

"Her shoulders were soo obvious," Soul interjected, earning him a punch in the arm from Liz.

"Chrona, on the other hand, was dress so casually," she finished.

"Why are you worried Liz?" Maka asked. "Chrona's not the kind of guy to take advantage of anyone. Even if her "shoulders" were hanging out of her shirt. Chrona's a gentleman."

"I get the feeling we're not really talking about shoulders," Kid said with a raised eyebrow.

Maka just laughed again and kissed him on the lips. "We are honey."

"I just think that Patty might try to force heself into something so that she doesn't have to be a third wheel. Everyone she knows is in a relationship and that might be making it worse, especially me and Soul."

"That doesn't sound like something Patty would do Liz," Kid stated. "I think you're overreacting again."

Liz folded her arms defiantly. "I am not! I just want to make sure she doesn't ruin her friendship with Chrona trying to get a boyfriend while he isn't interested."

"How do you know he isn't?" her meister questioned.

Liz shrugged. "Fine, I don't. This just means I have to find out. Soul!"

The white haired death scythe returned from the upstairs rooms. "Yeah?"

"I need you to spy on Patty and Chrona," she said as if it were an everyday occurrence. "Make sure you aren't seen and find out if Chrona likes Patty. I'm sure she likes him but I want to make sure he feels the same before approaching her about it."

"Are we missing the part where we're all adults here?" Soul asked, a little annoyed. "She can handle her own relationships Liz."

"Look, I'm her big sister and I just don't want to her to go getting hurt because she feels pressured to get into a relationship because of us."

Soul opened his mouth to reply then thought better of it and walked out. "I'll be back later."

Maka shook her head. She made her self a glass of water then went upstairs to take a nap. The plane ride was five hours long and she couldn't get an ounce of sleep on the way back. Kid sat down with his weapon and talked about what they had been up to while he was away on his honeymoon. Apparently the usual; making huge messes in the kitchen, spending time with Soul, complaining about him to Tsubaki, spending almost every waking moment cuddling with him, sharing the couch on odd nights. Okay, the new usual for them. Patty had been going out all day almost everyday.

"We meddled in you and Soul's relationship because you kind of asked Tsubaki and I wanted you to be happy," Kid said. "I want the same for Patty, but we shouldn't meddle in her affairs without her consent."

"I guess you're right," Liz admitted shamefully. "It's not that I don't trust Chrona, I know he's a sweet guy, if not shy. I just..."

"I know Liz. Just sit back and let her come to you if she needs help. You know she will come to you before anyone else- you're her big sister."

Liz smiled at her meister. He was a cool guy when the moment called for it. Seeing that the moment also called for something extra, Kid held out his arms for a hug. Liz smiled nervously but didn't turn down the invitation. Maka had definently caught a good man. Kid was also lucky to have caught her. He was right too, she should let Patty handle her own relationships and help from the side lines. They weren't kids any more after all.

"This is so stupid," Soul growled. "Why can't she just leave things alone? She's so attractive until she starts plotting crap. I hope our kids don't pick up that trait..."

Soul sat outside of a resturaunt in the cold rain of the afternoon holding his umbrella and trying not to look suspicious as he casually glanced inside every now and then at Patty and Chrona. They were talking about something funny because Patty had her head thrown back and was laughing seemingly hysterically. Chrona was also laughing, though not as hard. A waiter brought out Soul's fries and drink.

"Are you sure you wouldnt like to come inside sir? I'm sure I could find you an empty table," the waiter insisted.

"No, I'm fine here," Soul replied as he ate a french fry. "Don't worry yourself. I'll leave you a big tip for your trouble."

The waiter looked unsure but only nodded then went back inside. Soul looked back inside at the table where his friends were sitting. They were eating as well. Chrona had that same nervous look he often had as he ate. Ragnorak came out of his back and stole a...fistful? He stole food from both of their plates then went back inside of him. Chrona was beet red with embarrassment as he bowed his head to apologize, bumping it on the table. Patty stood then so Soul couldn't see anymore beyond her leaning over the table. He remembered the top she had worn and grinned his sharp toothed grin.

"Getting a good look at those shoulders, huh, Chrona?"

"Soul!"

He looked up to see Liz running up to him wearing a jacket. "Hey Liz, something wrong?"

"No, everything's fine," she said through the pelting rain. "I just came to get you so you could come home."

"I'm sorry, did you text me?" He fished his phone from his pocket.

"No, I didn't text you. I just came to get you myself."

"What about Patty and Chrona?" Soul asked, now confused.

"We'll let Patty come in on her own," she said. "If she needs us she'll come. Now come on Soul~ You aren't going to make me wait are you?"

Soul walked into her waiting arms and pulled her close. She was wet without an umbrella but he wasn't complaining as they walked back home. He was glad she had changed her mind and was sure he had someone back home to thank for that. Liz pulled down her hood and shook her hair. It was also wet and hung limply down her back as she walked beside him.

"You and Patty look alot alike," Soul said out of the blue.

"She is my sister," Liz replied.

"Yeah, and I think if Chrona can win her over then that's a woman worth holding on to."

"That's so sweet Soul."

The death scythe smiled. "I can be sweet when I want to," he remarked. "I'm telling the truth you know."

"And here I thought you were just trying to get at me with some smooth line," Liz replied.

"That too."

Liz kissed his cheek and hugged him tighter. These moments with Soul were so sweet she never wanted them to end; they reminded her that he was a big softie on the inside. Chrona was one she wanted to see for the real him as well. He was so shy with everyone but she hoped that Patty would be able to open him up more. She would be the one to do it.

"Even if Chrona doesn't like Patty that way, I will help her win him. They would be good for eachother. I really believe that Soul."

"Then so do I."

Soul kissed the top of her head as they continued through the grey afternoon. There would be other plans and he would be there to make sure Patty got her happy ending no matter what.


	2. Chapter 2: My little Man

A/N: Ragnorak. Enough said.

* * *

Patty stood in the mirror with a horrid expression over her face. She pulled at her cheeks and moaned aloud at the imaginary wrinkles that had appeared on her face. "No, no, no~ I can't let him see me like this," she whined.

"Hey, Patty," Liz called from the other side of the door. "Can I get in the bathroom?"

Patty sighed and opened the bathroom door to let her sister in. Liz step aside as Patty proceeded to mope down the hall. She couldn't feign her usual upbeat self, not this time. It was far to brutal to walk away smiling. Patty hadn't even noticed Liz walking up behind her looking rather perplexed.

"Patty?" she asked cautiously. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing sis..." the younger pistol droned.

"Come on, you can tell me. I promise not to tell anyone else."

Patty looked up at her sister with large, bright eyes that threatened to start the next great flood. Liz sweatdropped.

"Sis I have wrinkles~!" she cried as she threw her arms around her. "It's terrible! I can't go out like this~"

Liz rubbed circles in her back and tried to walk her to her room. Since when did Patty fret over her appearance?

"You're to young to have to have wrinkles," Liz pointed out when they reached her room.

She sat her sister down in front of her make-up mirror. Patty covered her eyes and refused to look. Liz stood behind her and took her hands from her eyes.

"Look, Patty," she said softly, "you look fine. I don't see any wrinkles."

"I know my face and there were wrinkles there," Patty argued, her eyes still closed tightly.

_This is ridiculous. When I find the aliens who took my sister I'm going to kill them._

"I am your big sister and I say there are no wrinkles," Liz said sternly. "Look in the mirror Patty."

Patty bit her lip and slowly opened one eye. She leaned forward before opening the other and sighing with relief. There were no wrinkles...this time. Those pesky wrinkles were always coming and going.

"Now you have to talk to me. What is going on with you Patty?"

"It's nothing sis," she replied. "It's a woman thing, you know. I'm not getting any younger after all!" Patty smiled brightly at her sister. "I guess I was just worrying about things to much."

"Things like..." Liz prompted.

"Like my birthday party? My birthday is close now sis."

"Yeah, like two months from now."

Patty nodded and jumped out of the chair. "Y-Yeah, so I better get on that. See you later sis!"

She ran from the room without another word. Liz fell into the chair and looked in the mirror. Her sister was being out of character to the max but she refused to tell her what was really bothering her. Liz was not stupid though, only women in their fourties worry about wrinkles and Patty was well from that time.

Patty rushed down the stairs pulling her hair up into a small ponytail. Today she wore a simple, pink, off the shoulder tee and dark blue jeans that had gone white at the knees from wear.

"I got it," she called before Soul could get up off the couch.

Patty stopped in front of the door and slipped on her sandals. She checked her hair one more time before opening the door to her pink haired da- er, friend.

"H-Hi Patty," he stuttered nervously.

"Hey Chrona! I thought it was my turn to come get you this time?" _Not that I'm complaining really.._

"Y-Yeah... I-I just thought that y-you were being so n-nice to me that I should come again today," Chrona replied sheepishly.

"That's nice of you Chrona," Patty remarked, her cheeks reddening just slightly. "Um..."

Cue untimely appearance by Ragnorak. "Are you two idiots ready yet? I'm starving!"

"Ragnorak..." Chrona started nervously.

"Who are you calling an idiot?!" Patty snapped, cutting him off.

"The both of you making stupid googly eyes at eachother! Now shut up and let's go!"

"Look you little parasite, I'm not putting up with your attitude anymore. You better watch how you talk to me, understand?"

"Yeah, yeah, you still can't hurt me unless you wanna hurt Chrona so can we just go already?"

Chrona grabbed his arm nervously. "Ragnorak, stop calling names. Can you behave at least for the afternoon, please?"

"Whatever! Can we just go get some grub?!"

"You'll eat when we eat," Patty stated to end the arguement and took Chrona's hand.

Ragnorak said a few choice words before retreating back inside of Chrona. Patty held on to his hand without bothering to take notice of how red he was. They went to the park and talked about nothing in particular as they walked the path. Chrona listened mostly as Patty talked, occassionally stealing a glance when she looked to the sky or at her feet. It was always fun to hang out with her no matter what they did. He couldn't say he didn't enjoy spending time with her either. There were things about her that made him feel better about himself just for being able to be with her.

"Chrona?" Patty stood in front of him looking very concerned.

"Ah! Y-Yes?" he started, surprised by her sudden appearance.

"I asked you if you wanted to do something different today," she said. "We always walk around and talk. Do you want to try something different?"

"D-Different like how?" he asked, holding his arm tightly. "I-I don't know if I could d-deal with anymore d-different."

"It wouldn't be all that bad," Patty prompted as she took his hand in hers.

"I-I g-guess not..." he replied looking to the ground yet failing to hide the pink rising in his cheeks.

"I know a really cool place we can go! C'mon."

Chrona stumbled after her as she started to run out of the park. This was the side of her that he really liked. She was always ready to take on new things and unafraid. He, however, was still getting use to some things that other people found normal. Patty was the one normality he _could_ deal with on a daily basis. She made him feel... Being with her was like... Well, he wasn't exactly sure how she made him feel. It was always some strange feeling he couldn't place.

"We're here Chrona," Patty announced proudly.

Chrona looked up at the huge winding slides and people swimming in the huge pool. "I-I don't h-have anything thing to-"

"We can buy some! C'mon~"

She held tightly onto his hand as she took him to the swim shop. He wasn't complaining so she kept holding his hand until they had to seperate to change. She waved at him before slipping into the women's changing rooms. She giggled to herself as she pulled off her shirt. Chrona was so cute when he was nervous! This was going to be so much fun, hanging out with him at one of her favorite places. Patty managed on the top of her bathing suit before looking at herself in the mirror.

"Who are you kidding Patty?" she said to the girl reflected in the mirror. "This is great but it's not what you really want. What you want is... There's no way to get that way with him without doing things. Things that you just can't allow yourself becuase you are a strong woman just like your big sis! She didn't have to do all of this to get with Soul did she? But Chrona's different..."

Patty shook her head and slapped her cheeks to pump herself back up. How dare she complain when she's had Chrona to herself for the past week? Patty scolded herself as she quickly finished getting in to the rest of her bathing suit and put her clothes in the bag she had bought. When she came out she saw Chrona waiting for her with his clothes in hand. Patty opened the bag and let him put his things inside.

"Alright, let's go have some fun!" Patty shouted loud enough that she was most likely heard on the side of the park.

"O-Okay.." Chrona replied meekly.

Patty made him ride every single slide no matter how much he protested. He always managed to survive to almost drown at the end. Patty saved him every time.

"Wh- Is this suppose to be fun?" Chrona asked after his recent flop on the slide.

"Isn't it?!" Patty exclaimed. "It gets me all excited- standing at the top of the slide, looking down on the people who look like ants, then the rush of adrenaline as you're sliding down so fast the water almost hurts. Isn't this exciting?!"

Enter Ragnorak. "This is a little to exciting for this wimp girly. He's had more brushes with death today than he's had in his entire life."

"Shut up Ragnorak!" Chrona snapped. "No one asked you."

"Well it's true! This guy ain't built for this kind of stuff."

"That's why I brought him here," Patty replied calmly. "You can never get use to this kind of thing if you never experience it. Life doesn't work that way. I know you've been very busy with assignments from Shinigami-sama, but I want you to have fun too. All work and no play makes Chrona a dull boy~"

Chrona smiled. "Thank you, Patty. What do you want to do now?"

"All this excitement is making me hungry," she said, much to the pleasure of a certain weapon.

"Get up Chrona so we can eat already! Geez! You already ruined her day, the least you can do is be quick about it."

"Wach it ya little parasite," Patty warned.

Chrona got to his feet and went inside with Patty. It was cold so they stood together with the one towel she had bought. Chrona blushed slightly as her damp skin pressed against his own. It made him feel wierd again in his stomach. He suddenly wasn't hungry anymore. _The time I get with Patty is nice, but I really wish I could place that feeling in the pit of my stomach. It kind of hurts..._

Patty ate a plate of nachos since she wasn't to hungry and she minded less that Ragnorak stole a few. She would have to get him out of doing that though. How would it look on their wedding day if they were cutting that beautiful cake topped with little figures of her and Chrona and Ragnorak took a bite out of it before anyone else?

"How embarrassing~" she reacted aloud.

"What's wrong?" Chrona asked, confused by her outburst.

_I just said that out loud didn't I? _"Nothing!" Patty replied quickly. "I was just thinking of something..."

"Embarrassing, obviously," Ragnorak finished in his own, annoying way. "Imagine Chrona walking around the house in nothing but his underwear. It's embarrassing just going out into public with a guy like this!"

He shoved a handful of chips in his mouth to hide the smile he got from seeing both of them go scarlet. Chrona dropped his head into his hands, ashamed of his life all over again. Patty took a shy bite of a chip. Ragnorak was the worst. How in the world has Chrona managed to live with him for the past twenty-four years? Despite the cause of his embarrassment, he was still so cute when he blushed.

"I think I've put you through enough for today," Patty said as she got up to throw away her tray. "We can go now."

Chrona looked up when she went to the trash can and glared at Ragnorak.

"What are you trying to do?! You're killing me Ragnorak."

"Please, you're killing yourself! You act like you've never been with a woman before," the weapon retorted. "You should see yourself- It's pathetic!"

"Ragnorak-"

"Let's go guys," Patty called from the door.

"We'll discuss this later," he hissed before grabbing the towel and following her out.

* * *

Liz sat with her legs rested in Soul's lap. They stared at eachother as if hoping the other would say something to break the ice. It had come to a moment when they were almost the most perfect person to look upon and neither wanted to tear away their eyes.

"Soul," Liz said in a low, seductive voice.

"Yes," was Soul's curt, inquiring reply.

"Patty's gone out with Chrona, Maka and Kid are sleeping..."

"Mhmmm~"

"So..."

"Yes~"

"Why can't we think of anything to do?!" Liz whined and kicked her feet weakly.

"I can think of a few things.." Soul mumbled.

"I told you we're not doing that," she growled.

"It's better than sitting here fretting over your sister's nonexistent relationship."

"Before you were so sweet, now all you think about is getting in my pants," she remarked. "What's with that?"

"I don't, I think about other things," Soul defended. "Like how amazing you look in a bikini."

"Which later leads to-"

"I even spare a thought to how annoying you are most of time."

Liz rolled her eyes and pulled her legs from him. Soul was always annoying but he didn't hear her complaining. Just then the door opened and they heard Patty come inside. She came into the living room still wearing her bikini top and her jeans were unzipped, revealing the bottom. Her hair was half way dried and hung in clumps in front of her face. She smiled at Soul and Liz when she came in.

"Welcome back," Soul said cautiously.

"What were you two up to?" Liz asked with a raised eyebrow.

"We went to the little water park that I like," Patty answered. "It was a lot of fun."

"The little water park that you like isn't little," Soul replied. "Poor Chrona..."

"He survived," Patty assured him. "I'm gonna go, um, shower."

Liz watched her sister race up the stairs then looked back to her boyfriend. "Did you see that? She was looking pretty happy."

"That happens when you spend time with someone you like," Soul replied. "I bet she's been putting Chrona through a lot. Poor guy must be beat by now."

"It's good for him. He works a lot, you know, and she's showing him a good time," Liz explained. "I think it's about time for me to intervene. I'm done sitting around with you."

Liz slapped his shoulder as she got up from the couch and went upstairs. Soul just shook his head knowing full well that if she was about to get into it things were going to get pretty hectic. He could only smile knowing that he would follow her into whatever plot she was planning without thinking.

* * *

Chrona plopped down on his bed clad only in a towel and fresh from a shower. Today was the most stressful he had experienced with Patty yet. It was nice. Well, not including the times he almost drowned from those crazy slides. Chrona smiled at the memory of Patty standing over him with her hair wet and worried expression. She brought out the only bit of laughter he had in him. Patty was pretty amazing.

"Geez, that Patty woman of yours sure is getting on my nerves," Ragnorak said with his amazingly timed entrance. "She called me a parasite!"

"You do seem to try to suck the enjoyment out of every minute I spend with her at my expense," Chrona replied agitatedly. "By the way, why did you say that at lunch? I don't walk around the house naked."

"No, but did you see the look on her face when I said that? She was speechless."

"And so was I! That was so embarrassing Ragnorak. How can I face her again with her thinking about me in the nude?"

"Stop whinning!" Ragnorak snapped. "She likes you, you know. Her reaction was proof enough. You can thank me later."

"I like her too. Patty's really sweet."

Ragnorak rolled his eyes. "I've done so much for you today that I'm gonna let you figure this one out on your own."

Chrona dressed then layed down for a nap. After all the activites from that afternoon he could use one. Maybe Patty would visit him in his dreams again...


	3. Chapter 3: Friend Zoned

A/N: The song that appears is completely made up.

* * *

Patty hummed happily as she picked through her closet for an outfit to wear. She was admittedly growing tired of wearing showy outfits and just wanted something that would be comfortable. This time she had arranged to meet Chrona for a concert that night for a band she liked. There was another group she liked in town also, but it was a punk rock group and that crowd might have been to much for Chrona to deal with at one time. She had been looking forward to some potential crowd surfing but it would be fun to do something a little more relaxing for a change of pace. Patty giggled a little at the memory of Chrona's relief when she said they would be listening to music this time. She started when a knock came to her door.

"It's open," she called as she pulled out an off the shoulder tee.

"Hey Patty," Liz greeted her with a smile. "What are you up to?"

"I'm going to a concert with Chrona tonight," she answered distractedly. "We're going to see Steamboat Trials- I love their music~ I also wanted to give Chrona a break from my risky fun life." She giggled.

Liz sat down on the edge of her bed and listened. "That sounds nice," she replied half heartedly. "So you won't be see him until tonight then?"

"Don't remind me," Patty sighed as she started through her pants drawer. Something occured to her and she turned to face her big sister. "Do you need something sis?"

"No, no~ I was just thinking that since you'll be free for the day if you would want to spend some time with your big sister for a change," Liz remarked with a small smile.

Patty clapped her hands excitedly. "Of course! It's been a while since we hung out together. I'm up for it! So what do you want to do sis?"

Liz's face brightened at her reply. "Well...I was thinking..."

* * *

Soul walked down the street with his hands jammed in his pockets and whistling carelessly as he passed by familiar landmarks. He had to admit he was fairly proud of his girlfriend for not forcing herself into the situation. Things also worked out well that day since Patty wasn't going to be meeting Chrona until later that evening. Soul stopped in front the apartment numbered fourty-two. He knocked lazily on the door then stepped back and replaced his hands in his pockets.

"C-Coming!" Chrona called from his room.

Chrona paused his movie and ran down the stairs to the front door. Who would stop by so early in the day to see him? There were a few ideas here and there, but ultimately Patty was the winning choice. He brushed his hair down and wiped away any buttery popcornstains on his face before opening the door.

"Soul," he breathed, instantly deflated upon seeing the white haired death scythe.

_Hahaha! _Ragnorak laughed from inside Chrona. _You should see the look on your face! You really thought that chick of yours would come over early just to see you._

_Shut up! _Chrona thought angrily.

"Hey Chrona, what's up?" he greeted him with a sharp toothed smile.

"Nothing really," Chrona answered disinterestedly, no longer curious to the unusual visitor. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to ask if you'd like to hang out for a bit," Soul replied. "I don't know how long you'll be out here and I haven't gotten to spend some quality guy-time with you yet."

"Guy...time?" Chrona repeated confusedly.

"Yeah, just me, you and about a pound of junk food. You in?"

Chrona shrugged. "I guess so."

Soul grabbed his arm and prooceeded to drag him from his house in his sweatpants and white tanktop. Chrona started to protest but Soul cut him off to list everything they would need for their "guy-time." Soul managed to ramble the entire time they walked to the market, shopped, then the whole walk back to Chrona's place.

"I'm about done with this guy," Ragnorak shouted angrily. "He hasn't shut up yet!"

"Hey, S-Soul," Chrona called ahead, "I just remembered, I have some things to do before I have to meet Patty tonight."

"No problem, I can help," Soul replied, completely unphased. "You don't mind do you?"

"Ah-"

"It's just that I really wanted to hang out with someone not Liz for once."

Chrona let him in despite his better judgement and Ragnorak's protesting. Soul dropped the bags on the small island in Chrona's even smaller kitchen. That word summed up the whole apartment pretty much. Soul guessed there wasn't really any need for much more room seeing as it was just him and Ragnorak was housed inside him. Once he had everything set up and ready for the wasting of the day, he sat Chrona down.

"So tell me," he said as he dug into the bowl of heavily buttered popcorn, "what's it been like coming back?"

"Um, surprising I guess," Chrona asnwered nervously. "I was surprised that Maka was getting married. Everyone's moved on with their lives so much that I kind of feel like I barely know them anymore..."

Soul was surprised how sad the conversation got so quickly. Apparently Chrona hadn't changed to much himself.

"At least it's nice to see that you've gotten over that nervous stutter of yours," he said trying to change the topic. "I bet you've gotten a lot stronger since the last time we saw you."

"I-I guess so... What about you Soul? How have you been?"

"I've been in and out of town until a few months ago," he answered nonchalantly. "It was kind of wierd actually. Not to soon after I got back from my last assignment from Shinigami had I started to have feelings for my best friend. It was like not seeing her had suddenly made her...beautiful."

Chrona chewed absently on a twizzler. _Is that hat happened to me?_

"Hold on a second," Ragnorak started angrily before snagging a fistful of popcorn, "I thought you were tired of your girl and that's why you came over here."

"Oh, you're right," Soul admitted, blushing slightly. "I guess I can't help it after all. You can't stop once you love someone. I-I don't know what it is about her... Maybe it's the look she gets in her eyes when she looks at me, like I'm the only one she allows to see her so naturally. You know, she likes to cuddle a lot. At first I thought it was wierd, what with it being Liz and all, but the more time I spend with her the more I learn."

Chrona hung on his every word as he spoke. He soon came to identify an aching in his chest. Why was it so unfair that Soul knew so much about Liz yet he knew so little about Patty? What was this burning rising from his core just from listening to him? Chrona bit down on his twizzler else he risked a bleeding lip otherwise. Soul noticed his tension and decided to reel him in a little further.

"Something wrong?" he asked cautiously.

"I-It's nothing," he sighed. "I don't really know what's going on with me recently... I feel weird sometimes and I...I just don't know how to deal with it..."

Soul hid his victorious grin over a cinnamon bun. "Is it something I could help you with?"

Chrona grabbed his arm tightly and averted his eyes to the kitchen. A light blush came to his cheeks accompanied by a nervous bite of his lip.

"W-Well...you see..."

* * *

Patty took a long sip from her mango and peach smoothie. "Ahh~ This is my favorite flavor of smoothie," she whined happily. "I should bring Chrona here sometime for a smoothie, these are great!"

Liz giggled at her sister. She was all grown up now but she was still so adorable. She was still her little sister.

"So, Patty," Liz smiled, "you've been about quite a lot the past few weeks. Are you avoiding me?"

Patty widened her eyes in shock. "Oh my- sis... No, I'm not trying to avoid anyone. Why would you think that? Did I do something wrong?"

"No, it's just that..."

Liz took a purposefully slow drink from her own strawberry smoothie. This conversation was going the wrong way a little to quickly.

"Since Soul and I got together you've been sort of left out," Liz went on uncomfortably.

Patty stared into her smoothie as her finger traced lazy circles in the condensation on the cup. "I understand sis," she said in a soft voice. "But don't worry about me, I'm just happy that one of us were able to find our prince charming. You found yours first, you're the big sister so it's only right."

"But Patty, if that's hurting you then-"

"No, please," she cut her off weakly. "I don't really want to talk about this sis. Can we talk about something else?"

Liz swallowed hard and nodded. "Okay then. How's Chrona been lately?"

Patty looked at her sister then. "He's fine. I think I've been giving him a real run for his money, hanging out with him every day. Do you think he's getting tired of hanging out with me?"

"Who could tired of being with you Patty?" Liz asked curiously. "You're to much fun! You still catch me by surprise and I'm your sister. There's no way Chrona's tired of you. I'm trying to figure out how you can deal with that weapon of his. He's so annoying!"

"He really is! He called me an idiot the other day- me! I couldn't believe it but I couldn't do anything to him without hurting Chrona so I had to let him go." She pouted at the memory.

"If you don't mind me asking, why did you choose to steal Chrona? He's gotten so much to make up for- even now."

Patty smiled. "It's always fun spending time with Chrona," she answered honestly. "He's better about a lot of things now. He also spends most of his time doing assignments from Shinigami so he doesn't have much time to himself. I just want to show him a good time while he can enjoy it."

Liz shook her head. "Alright now, Patty, I can take a lot of things but I'm not taking that answer for anything. I see how you've been dressing to _hang out _with Chrona. There's a little something going on between you two isn't there?"

Patty sweatdropped at the mischievious look on her sister's face. "No, there really isn't sis," she replied flatly. "There is absolutely nothing going on between Chrona and me. I promise."

"Really? Nothing at all?"

"No, nothing. I told you I've been hanging out with him to spice up his life a little bit," Patty giggled at her sister's dumbstruck expression. "You should believe me sis."

"I guess so..." Liz mumbled over her straw. "So there's absolutely nothing at all going on between you and Chrona? You're really just friends?"

Patty nodded. "Is that why you brought me out here sis, to pry?"

"Not really pry," Liz defended, "more like help. I thought you were coming on to Chrona so I was going to help you out, but it looks like I was wrong."

Patty laughed aloud, making Liz blush with embarrassment. She slapped the table and threw her head back in whole hearted laughter. Okay, so this wasn't Patty's best quality.

"Okay, okay I get it! I was wrong, geez.." Liz shouted and folded her arms. "I'm sorry..."

Patty stopped and wiped a tear. "No...no it's fine. I'm sorry for laughing like that, but it was to good~ I love you sis."

Patty put her hand out on the table palm up. Liz glanced at her hand and sighed. She placed hers in her sister's. No matter what happens between them they always did end up back there again. She smiled at her younger sister who gave her a large goofy grin in return.

"I love you to Patty."

* * *

The street lights were on and a crowd started to form in front of the club. Patty looked down the street either way. Still no sign of Chrona. At this rate they weren't going to be able to get a good spot. She tapped her foot impatiently and folded her arms. _Come on Chrona~ What are you doing? I said seven sharp. _She stood on the corner and leaned back against the building.

"Patty?"

She looked toward the entrance and sighed when she saw a very confused Chrona peeking over the crowd. Patty went to him and pulled him from the entrance line. She stopped for a second to look at what he was wearing; grey jeans with the belt hanging off his hip, light purple converse, and a grey tee depicting a blue soul on his chest.

"There you are," he gasped. "I-I couldn't get out, they were pushing me.."

"They're excited to get in there," she smiled. "This is my favorite band too. I can't wait until you get to hear them. Let's get in line!"

They went to the back and filed in with everyone else. Once inside they found a table to occupy since the dance floor was full by that time and it was getting a little stuffy. Patty tapped a rhythm on the table. Chrona fidgeted nervously with his fingers.

"Um, Patty, do you want me to get us something to drink?" Chrona asked nervously.

Patty looked up from her drumming and smiled. "That would be nice, thanks Chrona! Can you get me a root beer?"

He nodded then went to venture for where they sold food. Once he was mixed in well enough with the crowd he dropped his shoulders and shook his head. He grabbed his arm tightly and tried to calm himself. _This is so much harder than I thought it would be... _he thought.

_What are you whinning about? Just go get the drinks and bring them back! Geez, you really are useless... Why even bother with this? That Soul guy had no clue what kind of loser he was dealing with. _

_Shut up, SHUT UP RAGNORAK! I'm not useless, that's why I'm doing what I'm doing for Shinigami..._

_Yeah, outside of killing people you're pretty useless, face it Chrona. I say don't bother trying, there's no way she'd go for you anyway. Just drop the act now._

_But..._

_There's no point in lying to yourself. Don't get your hopes up idiot, not like they'd get to high anyway._

Chrona bit his lip and shut his eyes tight. As much as he wanted to fight it, Ragnorak was right. He was damaged goods that had become a burden to everyone and now he was trying to push himself off on someone else. Those feelings he was having before, they weren't even there any more. There was no reason to pursue anything beyond her friendship. Chrona took a deep breath before forcing himself to relax. He got their drinks and quickly returned to Patty standing on her chair. Lucky for him she wore skinny jeans that night. Chrona's face reddend at the view from behind.

_Take a good long look 'cause you ain't gettin' it._

Chrona closed his eyes and shouted her name. "Patty!"

She looked down. "Oh, hey! Steamboat Trials is on stage now," she screamed over the rising screams and applause of the crowd. "Come get a chair by me so you can see!"

"That looks dangerous," Chrona protested.

Patty jumped down from her chair, pulled another up next to her and made him stand in it before getting back up on hers. She picked up their drinks and handed Chrona his. He wobbled a bit so she put her arm over his shoulders and made him do the same for balance. The band started to play and she got Chrona into a swaying motion with her drink held high in hand.

_We used to love those things back then_

_those things that made us who we are now_

_Time moves on _

_Time moves on and past loves become loathes_

_Future hate becomes passion_

_There is no definent path so make your own_

Patty sang aloud with her root beer held high and eyes closed. It was so loud and crowded but no one looked uncomfortable. The music stopped and the singer held out his microphone for the audience to pick where he left off. Chrona closed his eyes and let the words draw him into a strange calm.

_When it all comes down, _

_when my world is shaken beyond my strength to react,_

_that's when you show up and save me again._

_The ground can crumble from beneath my feet but I know, _

_oh, I will always know,_

_that you're the one who will save me every time I fall._

Chrona listened as they finished singing and burst into applause. He opened his eyes to the flailing arms of the audience but he couldn't hear anything. Patty smiled brightly at him and he smiled back. Steamboat Trials was an awesome band. They drove the audience from calm to screaming to crying. By the time they were walking from the stage Chrona was sure he had experience every human emotion possible short of anger. Patty took Chrona out a side door, putting them in the alley.

"So what did you think?" she asked him, her smile still unfading.

"They were amazing," he answered with a small smile.

"Yeah, they were alright, I guess," Ragnorak huffed.

"Even Ragnorak thinks so! They are definently my favorite band," Patty exclaimed. The hype from the show had yet to come down.

"It's kind of late," Chrona observed, looking toward the pitch black night sky. "Can I walk you home?"

Patty smiled and nodded. "I guess so since you did handle the concert pretty well."

She hooked her arm in his and they started toward the mansion arm in arm. The smile refused to leave her because that excited buzz in her chest refused to settle even then. _This is definently the best night ever~! I got to watch my favorite band with my new favorite person and now we're walking home arm in arm. I didn't lie to you sis, there is nothing going on between Chrona and I. Even if I feel this way, he doesn't know so it doesn't mean anything. We're fine this way. _

Chrona walked as calmly as he could with Patty's warmth so close to him and their ams touching skin to skin. He glanced down and saw how much of a difference there was in their skin tones. Patty had a soft pink hue while he was still very much pale. _Even our skin is different... There's no need to try anything. Thank you for the advice Soul, but, I can't use it. _

They stopped at the top of the stairs before Death Mansion and Patty unhooked her arm then threw both around his neck. Chrona froze as she pressed her cheek to his. She drew back and stepped up to the door. Patty looked over her shoulder and smiled brightly.

"Tonight was awesome," she said. "Thanks for walking me home."

Chrona stared, dumbfounded, as she went inside and closed the door behind her. Ragnorak came out and leaned on his head with his elbows.

"Gettin' that last look, huh? I don't blame you."

"Don't ruin the moment," Chrona retorted.

"Too late."

"Yeah," Chrona sighed then started back down the stairs.

* * *

A/N: This is my favorite chapter right now :3  
Lemme know what you think!


	4. Chapter 4: Tough Love

Chrona stared at Patty as she chewed her lip in thought. They sat at a table with cups of hot tea steaming between them. Chrona took a shy sip as his companion's face contorted as she tried to come up with something to do for the day. It had to be something exciting, whatever it was. Patty closed her eyes in thought.

"Um, Patty?" Chrona started but she cut him off woth a finger.

"Wait, I think I'm getting something.." she mumbled. "Mmmm~"

Chrona gave a small laugh at her failing effort. It was cute watching her try to think of something when she had absoluely no ideas to start from. A couple with a baby walked into the cafe. Their little boy was holding a balloon that bumped Patty on the head. Chrona stifled a chuckle. They bought coffees then left with the little boy's balloon patting Patty's head again before leaving. She opened her eyes that last time and gasped when she saw them.

"Chrona," she breathed, her eyes shinning with new found purpose, "I know what we're going to do."

"Alright..." he replied nervously.

"Quick, follow that family!"

Patty jumped up from her chair and dragged Chrona out of the cafe. She chased down that little boy and asked where he had gotten the balloon.

"Oh, we were at the fair downtown," the father answered. "It's really nice and cheap."

"Are you two going on a date?" the mother asked with a smile.

"No!" they answered then looked away from eacother.

"We're just friends," Patty said quickly. "Uh, thank you for telling us about the fair!"

They hurried towards downtown. Chrona had to run to keep up with Patty's quick pace as they went further into town. Luckily for him, this wouldn't be as frightening since he had met them at a small fair before the wedding. How much different could it be?

"Oh my death look at that rollercoaster!" Patty exclaimed with a pointed finger.

Chrona stared with wide eyes as the large rollercoaster plummeted with he seats full of screaming people. Suddenly his chances of surviving the afternoon were lowered. He groaned as Patty grabbed his arm and dragged him inside. _I don't know if I'll make it home this time Ragnorak..._

_Don't come cryin' to me, I told you to drop her but you won't listen to me._

Chrona attempted- attempted- to feign his excitement along with Patty at the fast moving rides and sky reachiing rollercoasters, but he was the farthest thing from excited. It wasn't that he was afraid of heights or anything...

"This is so nice," Patty observed. "What should we ride first? Oh, look! They have big slides! They're just like the ones at the water park but without the water. You ride on carpets. You want to?"

"I-I guess so," Chrona stuttered nervously.

They ran into the line and got a long carpet so they could do one quick ride. Patty sat in front and Chrona sat behind her. She slid back inbetween his knees and fixed his arms around her middle. Once settled they pushed off and sped down the slide. Chrona held tightly onto Patty as they slowed down at the bottom. Patty went to stand but he was still holding onto her.

"Uh, Chrona, we can go now," she giggled, secretly enjoying his embrace.

He let go and they exited the slide for another adrenaline rush. Patty talked him into the swings. They weren't to bad but she wanted to ride at least one rollercoaster before they had leave. She somehow managed to talk him onto almost every ride not inlcuding ones the wen upside down or the rollercoasters. Chrona was admittedly enjoying the rush he got from the fast rides; especially the one that went backwards. Now every moment he spent with Patty was even more precious now that he had seperated himself from those wierd feelings.

"We've rode almost everything haven't we?" he asked her when they sat down for a snack.

"Yeah, but I want to ride a rollercoaster before we go," she said over her straw.

"Um, Patty..."

She raised her eyebrows to show she had heard him. "What's up?"

"Th-There's something I w-want to tell you," Chrona continued nervously. "I just wanted to say...thank you for spending so much time with me. Y-Yeah..."

"Oh, you're welcome Chrona," Patty replied. "It's nice hanging out with you, that's why I do it."

The conversation died and they sat in an uncomfortable silence for all of thirty minutes. Patty bit the top of her straw as she tried to calm her heart beating. Why did she react like that? It wasn't like he was going to say something romantic like "I love you Patty" or anything. She stared at her right at nothing in particular. She couldn't look at him while still so embarrassed. _Calm down Patty, this is Chrona we're looking at. He wouldn't just come out and say something like that. He's gotten better about his shyness but not that much better. Wishful thinking._

_What are you thinking?! _Chrona mentally scolded himself. _We're both adults here, I'm sure she can tell that things are going nowhere._

_Yeah right! _Ragnorak interjected. _Did you see the way she had you earlier? Lucky for you, you don't get excited to easily._

_Why do you have to make things awkward for me? It's already hard to deal with everything that's happening, don't make up uncomfortable situations._

_She actually looked pretty comfortable if you ask me._

_Well I didn't, so be quiet!_

Patty glanced back at Chrona and saw that he was a very deep red to his ears. She stood and reached her hand out touch his forehead. He started but didn't move away. Patty looked very concerned.

"Are you okay Chrona?"

"I-I'm fine," he answered quickly.

"Are you sure? I don't want to risk it so we'll ride another harmless ride," she said. "How about the ferris wheel?" _It's the most romantic ride here~ Please ride with me Chrona._

"O-Okay, I don't see why not..." _I'm sure she understands so I won't say something so embarrassing out loud. _

They threw away their trash and got in line for the ferris wheel. Patty rcked on her heels as the line moved so slowly Chrona's legs were tired by the time they could get a seat. He helped Patty into the car then climed in. The wheel moved around for the next cart to fill. Patty sat on the opposite side of the seat looking out over the edge.

Patty looked so pretty on the background of the swings with bright lights and music. Chrona averted his eyes as that feeling returned to torture his insides. He remembered Soul said that meant that he liked her more than friends, but he definently did not. Nope, not at all. Definently not. Chrona squeezed his arm until he started to cut off the circualtion and everything from his elbow down went numb.

_Geez, calm down Chrona! You're cutting off your circualtion!_

_I can't like Patty any more than a friend, _he started to chant mentally, ignoring Ragnorak. _She's a good friend and a good person and it would just be wierd to be anything more._

_Looks like I have to save your butt AGAIN._

Ragnorak formed from Chrona's back and looked over the edge. "We're up pretty high," he stated. "What's with humans and these wierd contraptions anyway?"

"Not everyone comes with a little built in Ragnorak," Patty pointed out. "This is the closets a lot of people get to flying."

"Yeah, Chrona here got pretty lucky with me," he replied, puffing out his chest.

"...Sure," Patty agreed sideways.

Chrona remained silent with his back to her, still gripping his arm.

"Chrona, are you alright? You haven't said a word since we got on here."

"I-I'm fine, d-don't w-worry about m-me," he managed disappointedly. His voice wasn't suppose to come out like that..

Patty slid down the seat to sit next to him. "Chrona, what's wrong?" she asked again, lightly touching his shoulder.

"D-Don't touch me!" he shouted and startled her.

"Chrona? Is something wrong? Please tell me..."

_What the hell are you doing idiot! Calm down before you do something stupid!_

"I'm sorry Patty," he whispered under his breath. "I just... I can't deal with this!"

"What's wrong?! Talk to me Chrona! Look at me and tell me what's wrong.." Patty argued, her anger sudden and rising steadily.

"I...I can't do that," he replied in a soft voice. "I-I'm sorry I just can't."

_What's going on?! _Patty cried inside. _This was suppose to be romantic but Chrona's getting all wierd on me now. Why won't he look at me? Did I do something wrong? _

Chrona stared at the floor and squeezed his arm tightly. He couldn't look at her, not with these thoughts in his mind now. She was pretty, she was strong but she was also his friend. Chrona couldn't face her with these perverted thoughts running through his mind. He closed his eyes in an attempt to block out everything and mentally put himself in a dark room.

Patty looked devestated from Chrona's sudden emotional outburst and moved back away to her side of the seat. They remained like this, Chrona with his denial of existence and Patty's solemn expression, until their car reached the ground again. They got off without a word and walked at least two feet from eachother. Neither said a word at the entrance. Patty looked like she was about to but decided otherwise when Chrona walked away without so much as a goodbye.

"Bye," Patty whispered after him.

She shook off the disappointment and walked briskly home. Surely Liz would know what to do!

Chrona slammed the door behind him and ran to his room where he fell out on his bed. He hugged his pillow to his chest and choked back the tears threatening to fall. All of this...everything...it was just all to much. How was he suppose to be expected to know how to deal with all of this?! Didn't everyone agree that he was just to strange to encounter such a situation? Why was this happening to him? Chrona put his face into the pillow and sighed.

Ragnorak glared at the grown man reverting back to his childish maannerisms. "I understand why you did it but she's gonna hate your guts forever."

Chrona mumbled something into the pillow that he was not willing to repeat. He looked up with fresh trails of tears going down his cheeks. "I just couldn't hande it anymore Ragnorak... I know I'm no good for her and she's to good for me really... That feeling came back again and I couldn't control myself. There were embarrassing things coming to mind and I just couldn't stand to look at her that way. I didn't want to hurt her..."

"Hurt her?" Ragnorak echoed. "Go get some help before you hurt yourself. This is getting out of hand."

Liz and Soul scrambled up from their position on the couch when they heard the door hit the wall and running footsteps. Patty ran through the living room and straight into her room without stopping. The door slammed. Liz looked worriedly at Soul who moved to let her sit up. Maka came downstairs with that same worried look on her face.

"What's wrong with Patty? She's crying," Maka said.

"Oh no.. Come with me Maka," Liz commanded and took her wrist.

They went back upstairs and tried to work her into opening her door. On the other hand, Soul layed back down on the sofa. The spot where Liz had been laying in his arms was still warm. It had taken sometime to get there to where he could just hold her close to him. It wasn't as difficult as things were going with Patty and Chrona though. Something was really wrong there. Patty obviously liked Chrona and he had basically admitted the same to him the other day; so what was he problem?

Soul groaned as he got off the couch and picked up the phone. It was time to bring in the big guy himself. It would pain him to do this to good 'ol Chrona, but if he didn't then Liz would chew him out later for hurting Patty. This was for his own good really. He held the phone up to his ear as he went to close the front door. There was a small hole in the wall the shape of a door knob. "Geez Patty.."

"H-Hello?" It was Tsubaki who finally answered.

"Hey Tsubaki, is BlackStar there?" Soul asked knowing full well he was if that sound in the background was what he thought it was.

There was a ruffling of sheets.

"The hell you want Soul!?" BlackStar shouted into the phone. "I was in the _middle_ of something."

"Yeah, yeah you free tomorrow?" Soul asked, brushing off his attitude.

"Why?"

"I'm gonna need your help for something," he answered. "I can't do it without you, it's gonna take some god-like power."

"Yeah, yeah are you done?" BlackStar rushed him.

"Tomorrow, early, got it?"

"Yeah, I got it." Click.

Soul shook his head and put the phone back on the hook. He stood by it for a few extra seconds before picking it back up and punching numbers in. Soul paced the floor, impatient for someone to pick up. No one did so he left a message.

"Hey, I'm getting together with BlackStart tomorrow and we thought that you might want to join us for more guy-time," he said. "Call back because if you don't we're coming over there and stealing you. Bye."

Soul put the phone on the hook and plopped back down on the couch. His work was done until tomorrow morning so he stretched back out and let the women handle eachother upstairs. It was not the best place to be at this time, he just had to make sure he took care of Chrona. Ideas started to gather in his mind of what he could do to patch things up. Chrona was_ his _tomorrow morning so he had better prepare himself.


	5. Chapter 5: To Make Amends Pt1

The sun rose into the morning sky, signaling the start of another day.

_Another day going by... Was it this bad before? There was something there but it wouldn't grow and that was okay because I could still... _

Patty rolled away from the window and covered her head with her sheets. Since when did she start counting the days? If losing a friend felt like this then she couldn't imagine what it would have been like if she had actually had any real feelings for him. She heard her room door open.

"Patty~ It's time to get up~" Liz called softly. "It's almost lunch time! Come eat with us."

"I don't want to," came her muffled reply. "I'm starting my diet today so I can't eat anything."

Liz rolled her eyes and came in. "Patty, why are you doing this? Can't you just go talk to him?"

"No, I can't! He was obviously trying to tell me something and I just have to read between the lines."

"This is really annoying Patty~ I don't want you in bed today. Come on, get up we're going somewhere." Liz pulled the sheets off of her.

"Nooo~" Patty whined. "I don't want to do anything."

Liz had to literally drag her out of bed then practically dress her. This ridiulous! Patty had never been so completely useless even when she discovered the death of her life sized baby giraffe plushie. And she _loved_ that thing. Liz dragged her downstairs to the dining table for lunch. Soul was not there so she could only assume he went to talk with Chrona. He better have because if not...

"I hear there's something going on," Kid said to Patty, not that she was paying any attention. "Patty."

She folded her arms and looked away. Why was everyone being so annoying? She really did not feel like talking to anyone.

"Patty. Talk to me, what's wrong?" Kid prompted.

"I don't want to talk about it," she replied reluctantly.

"She got in an arguement with Chrona a few days ago," Liz answered. "They haven't spoken since and she's been moping around the house or not even getting out of bed."

Patty pouted childishly but Kid looked genuinely concerned. She was acting way out of character from what Liz said. This was serious after all.

"Have talked to him at all since then? Maybe there was some misunderstanding," Kid suggested.

Patty lowered her eyes to the table and grabbed her arm in a familiar fashion. "There was no mistake," she spoke softly. "He said he just couldn't deal with it anymore..."

Maka sighed softly then went to sit next to her. "I'm sorry."

"It's no big deal, what's with you guys?" she said, suddenly feeling brave. "He just wanted his space is all. He'll be fine in a few days. We had enough fun for a year anyway, it's fine."

Liz looked worriedly at Kid who returned the look. Soul had better be getting a story out of Chrona. He was a good guy but that didn't mean she wouldn't hesitate to slap him up a few times for breaking her sister's heart. The punishment would be even worse if she found out Ragnorak was involved.

* * *

Chrona stared back nervously at his house guests, his face flushed with surprise. They were still trying despite the past two days of failure. He had managed to survive this long without injury but the look on Soul's face made him feel his luck had run out. BlackStar also wore a very threatening expression. Yeah, today was looking iffy indeed.

"Look, I don't want to hurt you," Soul started as calmly as he could manage, "but Liz is going to kill me if I don't get you to talk to Patty."

"I told you, I can't deal with seeing her right now," he replied meekly. "You guys don't understand..."

BlackStar slammed his fist down on the tiny coffee table. "I understand perfectly," he snapped, "you're a coward! Hiding from a woman- hmph!- pathetic. You'd never see me hiding from a woman!"

Soul could recall a few incidents but that could wait. "I'd hate to admit it, but BlackStar's right," he sighed. "You can't hide from a woman, they'll think you don't want to be around them then that causes all kinds of other issues. Patty, for example, would think that you couldn't stand spending time with her because you thought she was annoying. That would lead to low self esteem among other things."

"Whoa, listen to Doctor Phil over here," BlackStar remarked sarcastically.

"I live with three women. Knowing this crap is vital to my survival." Soul retorted, not in the mood for his friend's wise cracks.

"I don't see how me talking to her could fix that," Chrona went on. "If that's what she thinks then I can't change her mind. There's no point in trying.."

"Listen to you! Are you a man or not? Take charge! Tell her what it is and make her change her mind," BlackStar commanded.

"Because that's works wonders for your relationship, right?" Soul inquired.

BlackStar glared at him.

"Look, Chrona, talking to her will give both of you a chance to get out your feelings," Soul stated. "If there's one thing I've learned living wih three women it's that they love to talk. Even when there is nothing to talk about, they will make something up all for the sake of conversation. Patty is the main one who does it and it drives me crazy. You need to go crazy Chrona."

The black blooded meister just rubbed his arm nervously. They were right, he was a coward. Chrona could not handle seeing Patty though, not with those terrible thoughts.. No, he couldn't, not yet. "I'm sorry, but I just can't deal with seeing her right now guys."

BlackStar fell backward on the apartment carpet with a loud groan. "Are you serious?"

Soul wasn't ready to give up just yet. "Why not? What's the real problem here?"

Chrona lowered his eyes and gripped his arm tightly. "I-I don't know... It's still so wierd I don't know how to deal with it. I can't face her like this.."

Soul knew he liked Patty more than he would currently allow himself to say out loud. Patty's state back at home almost had him believing maybe even more. Whatever was going on with Chrona he was going to have to get over it fast before he set in irreversable damage to her. At the same time Soul couldn't shake the feeling that this whole thing was somehow his fault, that he had caused this irrational behavior in both of them.

"Hold on, I need to call Liz," Soul said as he got to his feet.

Chrona watched him step outside and close the door behind him. "I'm sorry... Why do you two care so much anyway?"

"I don't," BlackStar said, sitting up and leaning on the table. "Soul dragged me down here. I say do what you want. If you don't want to see her then don't. If you do then go! Just make up your mind so I can go home."

"It's not that easy BlackStar," he replied meekly. "I mean-"

"Like hell it isn't! You're just making this hard on yourself- Choose already!" BlackStar was about ready to start flipping tables. "Here, what's the problem?"

"Um...w-w-well it's...you see..." Chrona stuttered to the floor. "I-it's hard to explain really-"

"NO IT'S NOT! C'mon Chrona, stop being so afraid to deal with things you don't understand. I'm trying to help you but I can't do anything if you won't tell me what the problem is."

BlackStar looked intensely into Chrona's eyes, trying to decipher the uncertainty he saw there. What the hell was he so afraid of? He started to think back on the things that Soul had told him about the situation and put it together with what Chrona had told them so far. The gears started to turn as he stared into those black irises. Something finally clicked and BlackStar suddenly jumped to his feet.

"I know what it is now!" He threw his head back and laughed obnoxiously loud.

"What's going on in here?" Soul asked as he closed the door behind himself and rejoined them in the living area. "Did I miss something?"

"Yeah, me solving this problem in five minutes flat!" BlackStar boasted.

Soul raised an eyebrow at Chrona but he just shrugged. "Mind telling us how?"

"I know what Chrona's afraid of. I have to admit, it makes me pity him all the more." He shook his head sadly. "Patty must really be the first woman he's ever had real feelings for if that's what freaking him out."

"Spill it already," Soul prompted impatiently.

"I-I would like to know too," Chrona said shyly.

"You're afraid of what's next," BlackStar stated proudly, killing the meaning in the words almost instantly. "You're afraid of commitment."

"Co..mmitment?" Chrona echoed unsurely.

"Is that really what's wrong?" Soul asked him. "You don't know how to deal with things getting serious, huh? Well, Liz and I can help with that."

"I guess so... I want her to like me, but, whenever she gets close to me I want to push her away. That's why I left her like that. I'm no good for Patty in the end... She's so optimistic and never afraid of anything but I can't do anything right when it comes to other people and I... There's no point in me going any further with her than our friendship. We're just to different."

Soul fought the sudden urge he had to suddenly sit in a very dark corner. Chrona still had that awkward ability to make anyone feel like they had done the world a wrong by being alive.

"Have you seen me and Tsubaki?" BlackStar blurted out. "We're from two completely different worlds; she's kind and gentle and always wanting to help people while I wouldn't give two craps about some homeless guy on the side of the street. We're complete opposites but we love eachother none the less. That's what's important Chrona."

Chrona lowered his eyes to think over what he'd just been told. Soul turned to BlackStar and raised his eyebrows, honestly impressed. BlackStar just smiled smugly. Chrona looked up from his thoughts. They could tell from the serious expression that he had made his decision.

"I...I really like Patty," he started nervously. "She's the most amazing woman I've been with since the day I became friends with Maka."

That won some goofy smiles from the two men.

"I couldn't deal with her being mad at me and never speaking to me again," Chrona continued. "So,will you help...me to make it up to her? I'll do whatever I have to."

A dangerous smile stretched across the white haired death scythe's face in all sharp teeth. BlackStar raised an eyebrow, all of his attention now on the other man. Chrona suddenly regretted saying that last part.

"I'm glad you said that," Soul said, the smile not fading at all. "That means I won't have to drag you out screaming tomorrow. We'd better make sure you have something nice to wear for your date."

Chrona's eyes widened and changed to that ice blue color mostly associated with his unstable emotional switch. "Wh-What?! A d-date?!"

* * *

"Nooo~!" Patty whined and threw herself on Kid like a child when mommy's said something they deem unfair. "You can't do this to me!"

"Patty stop acting like a child!" Liz snapped. "You are going out with Chrona no matter what so you might as well get over that. But don't worry, you won't be alone. I'll be there and Kid'll be there and Tsubaki will be too. It'll be a double double date. Doesn't that sound like fun?"

Patty shook her head into Kid's chest. Kid patted her back and looked pleadingly to Maka who quickly moved in.

"It'll be fine Patty, I promise," Maka said in that motherly tone of hers. "It's just like what you've been doing with Chrona but more formal. You can wear a pretty dress and everything! Come on, let's find you something nice, okay?"

Patty released her hold on Kid and followed Maka reluctantly up the stairs. Liz turned to Kid with a hopeful smile.

"I'm glad you've been handling this like a grown up Liz," he said.

"More like a big sister," she corrected him. "I let it go it's own way and it ended up like this. Can you imagine how I feel right now?"

"I think so," Kid smiled. "About the double double date, I don't know if I'll be able to make it."

Liz came to stand over him with her hands planted firmly on her hips. They stared at eachother for all of five minutes before Kid dropped his gaze to the floor in defeat.

"I'll make sure to have everything done so I'm free tomorrow night," he caved shamefully. "But don't get mad at me if something comes up. I am the mobile Shinigami after all. If my father needs me to do something I can't just say no."

"I know but try to make it tomorrow," Liz pleaded. "It'll mean so much to Patty and I. She really needs this Kid."

Kid nodded then stood to help her clear the table.

**Upstairs...**

Patty sat on her bed as Maka looked through her closet for dresses. She laid out the ones she found then turned to the pistol when she was done.

"What's that look for?" Maka questioned.

"What look?" Patty remarked pursing her lips.

"Come on Patty," she sighed. "I made reservation at a really nice resturaunt for all of us. They have amazing desserts there too. If you survive the night I'll get you a chocolate volcanoe cake, just for you~ What do you say to that?"

"Hm," Patty shifted uneasily. "I guess I'll try. But Chrona said-"

"Patty," Maka sighed exasperatedly, "here's what being a woman means; not taking anything men say seriously. He might have said that, but, it is Chrona and I know he can overreact at times. You two need to talk which is why you're going on this date. Soul and BlackStar will make sure he goes as well. Just relax and let us help you! We want you to find your Prince Charming and something tells me his blood his black."

* * *

A/N: My classes start next week among other things to take up my time so updates will slow down, though hopefully not to much. Just expect a longer wait time inbetween.

*Chrona's eye do change from black to that nice blue color in the anime. It mainly happens when he is either using the black blood or, I noticed, really freaked out.


	6. Chapter 6: To Make Amends Pt2

A/N: Here's another update! This one took a while as I was trying to do it within short intervals of time, but here it is! I'm afraid it's gonna be like this often. Longer waits between updates but I won't drop the story completely- I'm finishing this one no matter what.

Enjoy the chapter! :)

* * *

Kid adjusted his tie then turned to Maka for approval. She scrunched up her nose and shook her head. Maka readjusted it, stepped back, then nodded her approval.

"I'm glad you could make it tonight," she said as she put in her earrings.

"So am I," he replied, smoothing down his coat. "I think Liz was going to kill me if I didn't."

Maka laughed a little then turned to face him. He took her hand and they went downstairs to join the other waiting couples. Liz was fussing over Soul's hair demanding it needed to be fixed. Soul held her wrists in an attempt to calm her saying his hair was just fine. Tsubaki giggled from next to BlackStar. Chrona sat next to BlackStar with his hands shoved in his lap uncomfortably.

_I can't believe I'm doing this, _he whined mentally. _I just know she's mad at me and I don't know how to deal with an angry woman._

_Stop your whinning! _Ragnorak shouted. _Be happy anybody cares enough to even try to help a sorry excuse for a human like you! _

_You're right..._

_Hey! Don't you even think about punkin' out now Chrona! _

_I-I'm not._

Chrona sighed sadly and looked at Soul and Liz who were still bickering.

"You two are terrible," Tsubaki giggled. "You act like a married couple."

"Hey," Maka interjected, "Kid and I don't argue like that."

"Not where we can hear, but I've heard some things," Liz said with a smirk.

Maka rolled her eyes and hugged Kid's arm. "Where's Patty? Patty!"

"I'm coming," she called from the upstairs.

Chrona turned to look over the back of the couch when he heard footsteps descending. His eyes widened at the sight standing at the foot. Patty had her hair done in curls that hugged her face and made her eyes seem all the more brighter. The dress hugged her waist and fell in silky green tendrils about her ankles. Liz smiled, proud of her make-up job. Maka was just glad she had shoes to go with that dress. Patty started to blush at the silent room with all eyes on her.

"Wh-What!? Stop staring at me!" she screamed.

They laughed as Liz went to hug her sister. BlackStar looked at Chrona who had his mouth hanging open uncharacteristically. He patted his back forcefully, startling the black blooded meister. He motioned toward Patty and pushed him off the couch. Chrona blushed terribly as he walked up to her. She smiled nervously and took his hand. The others joined in their pairs then dragged the awkward couple out stumbling.

"Oh! No, no let Maka and Kid walk in front of us," Liz said, pushing them ahead. "Then Tsubaki, you and blackStar. Now me and Soul, then Chrona and Patty."

They took the formation and stared at the pistol. She squealed at the alignment.

"It's so cute! Look, the married then longest together then new then the unofficial couple," she said as she pointed to each pair.

"That is cute," Maka cooed.

Kid shook his head. "Can we try not to get to the resturaunt late? Those reservations were hard to come by you know."

"Yeah right," Liz retorted. "Who would turn down a Shinigami?"

Patty and Chrona walked quietly behind as Liz went on an expensive rant. Chrona held loosely onto her hand as they walked and did not make eye contact. Patty's nervousness had worn off a bit but now she was just feeling bad. Why was he being so distant? She gently squeezed his hand, making him look up, and smiled. He returned a small smile of his own.

"You didn't want to come did you?" she asked so suddenly he couldn't put out an answer fast enough. "It's okay, I didn't either."

"R-Really?" he asked.

"Yeah. They're just trying to get us together even though I told them we just weren't serious like that. Sis can be pretty persistent! So I understand if you don't want to be here, you don't have to force yourself to smile. Let's just try to get through the night."

"Okay..." Chrona sighed.

Truth be told he hadn't heard a word after "either." He was to busy keeping his stuff together and not turning away from her. So she didn't want to be there with him as much as he had actually wanted to be with her? The damage was done either way. He would just have to make the best of the time he spent with her that night.

Liz looked back over her shoulder to her sister and her date. They were still holding hands but not talking at all. She poked Soul's side the nmotioned back to them. He looked then shrugged.

"We've already drug them out here, let them do what they want," he said, stretching and arm over her shoulder. "We just wanted them together, remember?"

Liz put an arm around his waist and sighed. "Fine, but I'll be watching them during dinner."

They reached the resturaunt and were quickly seated to a large table where the waiter handed them menues. Tsubaki opened it then quickly shut it back. Maka leaned forward.

"Is something wrong?" she asked the chain scythe.

"Everything on this menue is...so expensive," she gasped toward her friend. "Are you sure this is okay?!"

"Yeah, it's fine!" she giggled.

"Order whatever you want Tsubaki," Kid assured her.

She slowly reopened the menu and made a face at the prices. Patty looked over everything with a shine in her eyes. Chrona had not even picked up his menu. BlackStar started listing off foods, throwing Tsubaki into a small panic. Soul and Liz decided to get something big and share it, while Kid waited to know what everyone else was getting before deciding on his own order. Patty looked at Chrona. He had his head down on the table, not looking at the menu at all.

"Are you okay?" Patty asked with a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm just suddenly not feeling so good," he sighed.

"Will you eat something?"

"I don't think I can... I'll be fine with just a drink."

The waiter came back around to take drink and food orders. When he walked back to the kitchen Liz turned her attention to Patty and Chrona.

"That's a nice suit Chrona," she started. "I think it says something that you can fit one of Soul's suits. You must have gained some serious muscle on those missions for Shinigami-sama."

"I-I guess," he replied weakly. "They're not really that hard for me..."

"I wouldn't think so," she continued casually. "So how have you been the past few days? Taking it easy, I'm guessing. Since you got back it's been pretty intense, right?"

"Not really," Chrona sighed. He sat up and rested his elbow on the table. "I was having a good time with Patty at all those wierd places. It was kind of scary at first because I didn't know how to deal with all of those things, but she made sure I couldn't runaway from everything. No, the first few days weren't the most stressful I've had to deal with."

Patty blushed next to him and tried to hide it with the menu. Soul smiled. _That was good Chrona, _he thought. _Keep letting her know how you feel._

"It sounds like you had a lot to learn from her," Maka said to fill the silent gap growing after he finished. "I wish we could have been able to spend some time with you two during that. Kid and I have been really busy with redecorating the mansion and shinigami duties."

"Oh, I noticed that," Tsubaki spoke up. "The walls were egg shell blue instead of white. It looked very nice. I should think about redoing our house.."

"No way," BlackStar interjected, "I can't have my place looking all girly!"

"Come on, I'll only do my room and add a few little things around the house for decoration," Tsubaki suggested. "We can get started tomorrow."

Chrona smiled a little, feeling much less stressed now that he had gotten out some of his thoughts. He really hadn't realised how much he missed them all until then. They were still a rowdy bunch and confused him at times, but they were his friends. Why else would they go through all this trouble to get him and Patty back together? He looked at the woman in question who had been fairly quiet since they started talking.

"Patty...are you okay?" he asked worriedly.

She looked up at him and nodded. "I'm fine," she answered softly.

The waiter arrived with their drinks and told them their food would be out in about ten minutes. Chrona took a slow sip without removing his eyes from his "date." She wasn't as looking as cheerful as before. Her mouth was set in a soft frown and her head was lowered to where the shiny curls of her hair fell to hide the side of her face. The others were talking about something- he had stopped paying attention really- but it all faded out when he looked at Patty.

"What's wrong?" he asked again, more sternly this time.

"Nothing, I'm just thinking about things," she said. "Like the time at the fair..."

Chrona lowered his eyes in shame at the memory. "I-I'm sorry I did that to you Patty. I didn't want to-"

"The apology is enough," she cut him off. "That's all I need to know, that you weren't being like that because of Ragnorak or anything. I forgive you Chrona. You are my best friend after all."

Chrona gave a small smile. "Yeah, best friends."

The food was brought out by two waiters and set on the table. They gave thanks then ate with lively conversation. BlackStar persisted to tell a story which just had to have many wide and sometimes obscene gestures. Chrona had to duck to keep from getting hit. Tsubaki pulled his arms down and shoved a piece of her scampi in his mouth to shut him up. Patty returned to her eccentric self and laughed a loud. Kid shushed them every now and again to prevent them from getting thrown out. Shinigami or not, unhappy customers meant lost revenue and they weren't going to risk that.

After dinner, and a swift exit, they went to take a romantic walk through Death City by request of the women. Soul rested his arm over Liz's shoulder, BlackStar held Tsubaki around her waist, and Kid held Maka close with an arm over her shoulders and hand on her left. Chrona walked close to Patty but kept his hands to himself. She held her hands behind her as she hummed contentedly while they walked. The moon sat high in the sky now and cast a faint blue glow on the city streets.

_What are you doing?! _Ragnorak shouted suddenly from within Chrona.

_I'm walking, what does it look like? _he retorted, just a little annoyed.

_Don't get smart with me! Can't you tell what they're doing? At least hold her hand or something- you're so slow I think you need a helmet sometimes!_

_Hey! Didn't you here what she said at the resturaunt? I'm her best friend. She doesn't want anything to do with me like that._

_Are you stupid or what?! She wants you just the same. After that stupid stunt of yours she's just afraid to do anything about it. This is what you get for being such a pushover!_

_..._

"This is nice, huh?" Patty asked, drawing him from his thoughts. "It's probably the calmest thing we've done since Kid and Maka's wedding. You like doing things like this don't you?"

"Y-Yeah," he replied. "I like to do things that excite me too."

"Really?" she giggled. "I guess I some affect on you, huh?"

"You did, that's why I couldn't stand you being mad at me." he admitted nervously.

"Why didn't you call me and just tell me what was wrong?"

"I didn't think you'd want to talk to me after the way I acted..."

Patty bit her lip, knowing what she would have to say. She really did care for Chrona and there was no denying that, but, she wanted to help him before she could allow herself to follow her heart. He was not yet her prince. Patty played nervously with a curl that hung by her eye. This was going to be hard but it had to be done. She could only hope this would not blowup in her face.

"Chrona," she said just to make sure he was listening, "I do still have feelings for you. I have had them since the wedding and I had hoped we could become something more than friends. It seemed possible when we started spending so much time together, but then the fair thing happened..."

Chrona felt his stomach tightening in an odd way. This was going in the wrong direction.

"How do I say this," she wondered aloud. "Well, I don't know. We're both adults here so I'll just say it. Chrona you're still acting like that scared boy we met all those years ago. I'm looking for someone who can support me and be strong when I'm not. I need a man, not a little boy."

Chrona couldn't muster up a single word, his throat was suddenly very dry. Everyone had stopped to stare at the two who had been lagging behind. Patty had been talking to softly for them to hear but judging from Chrona's terrified expression she had just undone the entire night.

"I'm sorry Chrona, but we can't be anymore than friends."


	7. Chapter 7: What I Want for Him

_A/N: _Crona is my favorite character and I love him so much, but I just had to twist this plot. It's for his own good.

Happy Reading~!

* * *

Liz stared on with disbelief at the scene unfolding before her. They had caught that last statement and no one had dared to speak a word. Patty looked at the ground, una ble to take Chrona's look of horror. He stood with his fists clenched shakily so at his sides and mouth open as if to say something but nothing would be coming out any time soon. His heart raced in a continuously rising panic as the sounds of the city fell silent around him and only his own uneven breaths were heard in his ears. Maka stood next to Kid, holding on tightly to his hand, her own heart speedily pumping blood through her body.

_Wh-What just happened?_

His brain refused to register anything Patty had just said to him. They were obviously not her words. She would never say something like that to him. Chrona couldn't find the breath beyond breathing to speak, not that he had anything to say. The only thing he could do was look at her now. The others were looking back at him with pitying expressions or clear sorrow. Patty had not softened her blow at all and even they had felt it. Chrona lowered his eyes to the sidewalk. He wanted to speak words yet none would come to his aid.

"I'm sorry it had to be said this way," Patty said to break the silence. "I just couldn't possibly lead you on after tonight because then you would think we actually had something to go off of and that just wasn't true."

Liz held onto Soul for support since her legs were threatening to give out under her. What in the world was her sister saying? Where was the cute love-struck woman she had seen a few weeks ago? Why was she saying these things she knew was killing this poor soul on the inside? _Patty what the hell?!_

"Well, I guess this means it's all over now," BlackStar yawned.

"BlackStar," Tsubaki hissed. "Please.."

"What? I told him the same thing the other day," her meister went on shamelessly. "He has to stop being so afraid. Patty saying it did more to him than I did though."

Maka's shoulders dropped and she sighed heavily. "BlackStar's right, it's late..."

She hated to just leave things this way, but, Chrona would need some time alone after a hit that low. He most likely did not know how to deal with this type of situation and needed to think things over. Patty would have some explaining to do tomorrow. She asked if he wanted someone to go home with him but he only walked away without a word to anyone. When she was sure he was gone Patty finally raised her head to see the empty space in front of her.

"We'll see you guys later then," BlackStar said nonchalantly as he and Tsubaki departed.

Liz walked up next to Patty with what strength her legs had. "You had better be ready to start talking," she hissed. "Let's go home."

...

Maka went straight to bed when they got back home, stopping for only a moment to say good night before going to her room. Patty ran to her room as well. Liz started after her but Soul stopped her at the bottom of the stairs. Kid locked the front door before going into the living room.

"That went well," he stated into the silence.

Liz shot him a glare. "All that effort and she goes and does something like this. What was she thinking?"

"Yeah, that was an uncool thing to do in front of everyone," Soul remarked, rubbing the back of his neck.

Kid shrugged and went by Liz to go upstairs. "I'm not sure she was doing it out of complete disregard for Chrona, so don't be to hard on her. She told the truth."

Liz watched Kid ascend then turn the corner, her face stuck in a scowl she couldn't shake. She shook off Soul's hand and went to her room angry. The white haired death scythe stood there for all of ten minutes, thinking over the happenings. It was true, she had said what she really felt after all, but at the same time was it really okay to just say it in front of everyone? Soul went slowly up to his room to sleep off the stressful night.

...

Tsubaki slammed the door behind her and turned on the blue haired idiot standing by the table. She didn't even spare him a minute of her time but went to her room without a word. The afore stated idiot ignored the crack of her door slamming. What did she have to be so angry about? He looked at her door, completely ignorant to the vibes she was sending through it. She was mad with him, about whatever women get pointlessly angry about, and ignoring him. There was only one thing left to top it all off.

"Good night Tsubaki," he called.

Silence ensued for all of five minutes then she stormed out of her room, dressed down in her sleeping wear consisting of short-shorts and a mid-thigh length large shirt with an acronym for pretty written across it. BlackStar didn't look up from drumming on the table or even acknowledge her existence. Either one of them thought they were right for the way they were acting and refused to shove that opinion on the other.

"You know you shouldn't have said anything BlackStar. Why did you do that? Do you have any idea how humiliating that must have been for him?"

BlackStar rolled his eyes disinterestedly. "I told him the same thing when we went to talk him into going, that was all I said. Why are you getting all upset at me anyway? Go talk to Patty if your so mad!"

"I'm not mad, BlackStar," she shouted then turned away from him. "I'm going to bed."

Tsubaki went back to her room and closed the door softly. BlackStar went to his room and fell into bed. He heard the click of her light going out then turned out his own light. Unlike Tsubaki, he didn't change his clothes but only took off the coat and tie. BlackStar stared into the darkness for hours before sleep finally took him.

...

Chrona had not managed very much use after getting home beyond changing clothes, even that being done with Ragnorak barking commands. He lay motionless in bed staring at the cieling with the warm blotches on his pillow by his head. Chrona couldn't help but replay the scene in his head over and over much to Ragnorak's displeasure, but he figured Chrona had suffered enough for one night.

"Even she said it," Chrona mumbled into the darkness. "I'm pathetic..."

"Actually, it was more like you're a a coward, like that spiky haired wierdo said," Ragnorak corrected him.

"She's right though," he went on with a melancholy drawl, "I am pathetic and childish. I don't know what she ever saw in me or what I ever thought I could seen in us... Ragnorak?"

"What?"

"On a scale from one to ten, what would you rate me?"

"I'll say three this time. You're pathetic but not a complete idiot."

"Thanks Ragnorak... What about Patty?"

Ragnorak rubbed his chin in thought. "I'd say a definent ten. Did her bikini body?"

"I don't want to think about that," Chrona sighed. "I wish I could just forget all about her. Patty just wants to be friends but I can't deal with that. There's no point in trying to change because I've been this way for the past twenty-four years- change doesn't just happen because someone wants it to!"

"What about what that spiky haired guy was saying? Make up your mind and stop being such a wimp! He was a smart guy, though about as good looking as you. The chick's already made up her mind."

Chrona stopped talking and closed his eyes to further the darkness surrounding him. He wanted nothing more than to forget everything that happened and sleep. No matter how dark he made it sleep refused to aid him or his aching head. The scene continued to play over in his mind. She hadn't looked angry at all, only sad; there was no venom in her words either. They reminded him of something Ragnorak would say, but, he would have found a way to make it sound as rude and ugly as possible.

Patty, on the other hand, sounded as sincere as she could while saying those words that had ripped his heart out. If he had learned anything from that experience it was that one should never consider giving their heart away; it was just to vital for living. Chrona couldn't imagine himsel doing anything but laying ther and waiting for the pain to go away, staying out of the light until he felt well enough to do so.

* * *

Kid woke before Maka and worked through his morning routine as quietly as possible so as not to wake her up. Not many people knew this, but Maka was not a morning person. He dressed quickly and snuck out, closing the door silently behind him then headed downstairs to grab something to eat before having to tend to the day's work. Kid fixed on his tie as he ascended, not expecting to see anyone awake yet.

"Hey Kid," Patty called from the couch. "Gettin' ready to go?"

"Yes, I was just heading out," he answered cautiously. "What are you doing up so early?"

"I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep so I came down to watch some scary movies," she explained.

"That makes sense. So how are you doing after last night?" He looked through the cabinets as he continued. "The others are going to want some kind of explanaition for what you did."

"As far as I'm concerned I don't owe them anything," she retorted somewhat bitterly. "I'm glad you guys did that for me, but I can make my own decisions. It seemed like the perfect time to do it, so, I did."

"I understand Patty. Liz won't hear any of that though." He chuckled a little. "You did what you felt you had to. I just hope Maka can handle waking up this morning. She's pretty protective when it comes to Chrona you know." Kid took down a bagel and popped it in the toasteroven.

"She'll be fine because that was just between me and him," Patty continued brutally.

Kid took out the bagel and put it on a plate. "If you say so. Stay safe today," he chirped as he left.

Patty sat back into the couch and stared into the television screen where a woman was being eaten by a giant snake. It was terribly edited in and obviiously fake but she couldn't look away. Patty had to keep her plan to herself, make sure no one else knew what she was up to for the sake of it playing out as naturally as possibly. If all went well- and Chrona really did like her as much as she thought he did- then he would do his best to change for her and come back as her prince. It wasn't exactly planned out, but it was kind of like how he pushed her away and she kept her distant when they met up again the other night.

"I'm such an idiot," she whined, slapping the remote against her forehead. "But now I've done it and I can't take it back. I just have to believe that Chrona can become stronger, besides, I was being honest. We can't really be in a relationship if he's still acting like a kid. Big sis and Soul meet at some point where even they won't argue about something."

Was it so wrong that she wanted something like her big sister? What they had was so relaxed that they almost seemed just like friends minus the fact that they kissed and Soul made it a priority to keep her closer to him around other men. Patty shook the doubt from her mind and paused her movie. How could she gauge her own wants next to her sister's? They didn't want the same thing from a relationship.

"Forget about them!" she thought out loud. "I just want someone who will care for me and I really want that person to be Chrona so he has to get stronger...for me..."

Patty started her movie back up and folded her arms defiantly. From then on she decided to never again use her sister's relationship to choose her path in the one she wanted. She wanted Chrona to be the person who would be there for her no matter what and that was final. Patty nodded and glared at the movie playing on the screen to take her mind off of the subject. This was Chrona's dilemna now, she just had to let it go.

The sun peaked through the curtains, meaning the others would be waking soon. Doors were opening up stairs and footsteps padded the hall. Liz went to the stairs and looked down to see if anyone was awake yet; only Patty. She had seen Maka go in the bathroom so she was up too. Liz felt much better about talking to her now seeing as she was calmer that morning. Honestly, she wasn't sure if she wanted to bring back up the events of last night.

"Good morning Patty," Liz greeted as she descended the stairs in her pj's.

"Good morning sis," she replied without looking back. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, I slept great actually. How about you?"

Patty shook her head then said, "I couldn't stay asleep and got up before Kid. It's been scary movies since then. It was wierd, I'd never had problems sleeping before."

Liz came to sit next to her on the couch. Patty stared at the tv screen with feigned interest. Surely Liz was wanting to talk about last night by now. She already knew what she was going to say so it wouldn't surprise her.

"Look, about last night," she started.

"I know, I know, I ruined a great night and probably scarred Chrona for life," Patty cut her off. "It's for his own good, trust me sis."

Liz stared at her little sister with wide eyes. "Um...okay... Could you let me in on what the heck you're planning? That was pretty rash what you pulled last night."

Patty thought for a second before conceding. When Maka finally came downstairs they pulled her into a huddle on the couch and Patty shared her plan amongst them. The surprised looks on their faces let her know that this was a pretty good plan. Liz high-fived her and Maka shook her head.

"Just make sure you don't go to far with this," Maka warned. "Chrona is still an unstable soul and I couldn't take it if anything happened to him."

"I know," Patty replied, "don't worry. This is just for him so I won't go crazy or anything. I really want him to become someone I can depend on completely so he has to go through this by himself. Can I trust you two to stay out of this?"

Liz pouted but gave her word. "How do you know this is going to work?"

"It's going to work, I have no doubt in my mind! Chrona will become stronger!"

Maka giggled. "Then I think it will work too. I would like to see Chrona in a healthy relationship as well. He needs someone like you Patty, who'll challenge him and make him a better person."

Patty nodded in agreeance. Liz took her company to the kitchen for breakfast and stole Maka while she was at it. Patty breathed a sigh of relief. It felt good to have told someone and most of all her sister. She couldn't help but think about the small chance that Chrona would take her words to seriously and completely give up her. That was something she could not deal with if she tried. _Chrona, please come back to me..._


	8. Chapter 8: Manly Manness

A/N: I am so sorryfor that huge break in between! I will try to prevent that from happening again to the best of my abillities. I appreciate everyone who's stuck it out with me so far, thank you all! Hopefully this chapter is more of a breather and I can win some laughs with it.

I also feel the need to apologize for not proofreading some of my previous chapters. This one and all the rest will be proofread to avoid errors.

Happy Reading~! 3

* * *

Chrona stared at his phone, just waiting for it to ring. Well, to ring or do something- he was tired of staring at the wall after the other day. Of course after three hours he figured it wouldn't and decided to watch another movie. Chrona wanted a distraction of some kind, anything would suffice really, but at least staring at a moving thing would make him seem less pathetic. Then again...less pathetic to who? He picked up a comedy and read the summary. He had taken the whole day yesterday to think over what had happened the night before and he pretty much understood that if he really wanted Patty back that he just had to become that person- that _man_.

"I guess we need some new movies," Chrona sighed, throwing the one he held on the couch. "I'll go down to the video store then."

"It's about time," Ragnorak sighed. "You've been moping around the house for the past two days- seriously, you need to get out more, for my sake. You're not the most attractive person."

Chrona sighed as he picked up his keys and put on his shoes. In his despondent state Ragnorak's angry rant fell on deaf ears. Within the soft sounds of the midday activity of the city, his thoughts trailed back to her. The words still hurt as if she were standing there saying them all over again. _She needs a man. _He pushed his way through the video store door and wandered to the section of action movies. Who didn't feel manly watching _Die Hard _or _Riddick_? Chrona skimmed through the titles with little interest.

"Are you seriously doing this?! There's a chick with an amazing body and low IQ out there waiting for you and you're in here looking for a movie to take back home and rot your already suffering brain?"

"Did you just call her stupid?" Chrona asked, half distracted.

"Which is why you're being an even bigger idiot than usual! Do you have any idea how hard it is finding someone to match your level of stupidity?"

"What, Ragnorak?" Chrona sighed as he picked up _Judge Dred_. "You've been quiet this whole time, why are you talking to me now?"

"Because I thought you would actually do something smart for once but, no dip, you're still being an idiot."

"And what exactly do you think I should do?"

"I don't have to tell you stupid, you already know! Now do it or I'll rip down those stupid posters you have on the wall back home."

"Fine, fine! I'll do it, but I'm not promising anything," he mumbled as he went to pay for the movie.

...

Chrona stared at the phone with beads of sweat forming on his forehead and trailing slowly down the curve his face. His arm felt like it weighed a ton when he tried to raise it to pick up the phone. Both of his elbows now hurt from the effort so he was left in this awkward position of trying to lift it with his telepathic ability- which he didn't have. Chrona took a deep, shaky breath and raised his arm past the numbness in his elbow and put his hand on the phone. He let it rest there for about a minute before grasping it and attempting to lift it from the reciever.

"What are you doing? Remember, hot chick and bikini," Ragnorak continued to remind him.

"Will you stop it?" Chrona whined. "I want to do this for Patty, but do I have to call _him_ Ragnorak? Isn't there anyone else we can ask for help?"

"No one's gonna do a better job than this guy and we need someone who's gonna give it to you straight! Hurry up and call him already."

Chrona swallowed the lump in his throat and dialed in the number with a shaky finger. He held the phone up to his ear as it rang. His heart beat harder the longer it rang, his breath catching at the short pauses in between. Then the dreaded click.

_Hello? _

Chrona's voice caught in his throat.

_Is someone there? If this is a prank call-_

"N-No! I-It's me, Chrona.." he managed to choke out.

_Whoa, hey, Chrona! How have you been handling yourself? You know, Tsubaki's still mad at me for what I said that other night. Thanks to you she's been giving me that evil glare a lot._

"I-I'm sorry, b-but I called t-to ask you about something." Chrona forced the words out.

_I guess I should help you out. What do you need?_

"Can you help me..." No matter how he said it in his mind it sounded pathetic. "I need help with something kind of personal and-"

_Hey, whoa, think about what you're going to say and if it sounds wierd then don't ask._

"No, I want you to help me...change." Yep, still wierd.

_Oh... I thought this was going in a completely different direction.. Uh, sure, I guess. I'll help you out. So you're taking what Patty said seriously, huh?_

"Y-Yeah... I am."

_Then I'll give you a little advice now, forget about Patty. _

Chrona's arm went numb and he quickly switched the phone into his other hand before he dropped it. "What? Forget about..what?"

_Forget. About. Patty. If you do this thinking only about her then it'll only make things harder. Forget about her for now. You have to do this for you, Chrona. You're going to work hard to change yourself for you, not her. _

Chrona didn't respond to quickly. He knew, once again, that BlackStar was right. BlackStar seemed to be on a roll that week. Chrona sighed heavily. "Okay, I'll try not to think about her."

_Lesson one, make up your mind! Put your foot down and kill something! You will not think about her at all, got it? There's no trying- women try not to think about how their clothes don't match; men just don't. We know they don't match and we don't care!_

Chrona could have sworn he heard giggling in the background.

_You got that? We __**do**__,__there's no more trying. It's time to man up!_

"Y-Yes! I won't think about her at all."

_And call me Great One as long as we're doing this because I'm great and number one! _

Chrona sweatdropped and held the phone away from his ear as BlackStar laughed obnoxiously on the other end. This was going to be an interesting few days under BlackStar's ego. Ragnorak shook his head. Chrona just smiled and put it back to his ear when he heard the boasting cease. They set up a meeting time for Chrona to go to BlackStar and Tsubaki's apartment that week. When he finally hung up the phone he laid down on his couch and fell asleep. It was exhausting just talking to BlackStar.

* * *

**Lesson 1: Put your foot down**

"Alright, first things first, why do you want to do this? I'm not going to be an easy master and I just want to make sure you're doing this for the right reason," BlackStar stated.

"I'm doing this because I want to become someone who can deal with anything!" Chrona shouted as loudly as his soft voice would allow.

BlackStar nodded his approval then proceeded with his first lesson. He would talk with Chrona about something he didn't like and ask him annoying questions until he could "put his foot down" and either end the conversation assertively or change the subject effectively. Chrona, of course, failed miserably at this for the first five hours but later progressed to failing less by midday.

"You're a piece of work," BlackStar sighed. "We'll have to continue that tomorrow. I'm tired of talking. I don't think I've ever talked so much in my life."

"I guess I need a lot of work, huh?" Chrona inquired meekly.

"You need a crap load of work," he emphasized with hand gestures. "Come on, I'll ask Tsubaki to make us something to eat for lunch."

Chrona followed him inside where Tsubaki was already making something that smelled really good to their hungry noses. She stopped them with a spoon when they tried to enter the kitchen.

"I will bring it out to you, get out of my kitchen," she waved them off with a smile.

They wouldn't disobey the woman with food. They went into the dining room and sat down to wait. BlackStar noticed an annoyingly melancholy expression on Chrona's face. He slammed his fist down on the table, startling him.

"What's with that look?" he demanded. "You've just spent a whole day with The Great BlackStar, do you know how many people would kill for that?!"

"I'm sorry if I'm causing any trouble for either of you..."

It was time for the second half of the lesson. BlackStar reached across the table and snatched Chrona forwad.

"Do not apologize for stupid things. You say thank you and move on, got it?"

Chrona nodded slowly before BlackStar let him go and pushed him off the table. He was being very straight forward, he could admit that easily; the hard part was his brutality. He got up off the floor as Tsubaki came in carrying the plates of food. There was fish, gyoza, rice, and a small plate of sushi.

"I hope BlackStar hasn't been being to hard on you," she said as she set down the plates.

"He's a man- that's what he's here for," BlackStar said. "I'm toughening him up!"

"Thank you for making lunch," Chrona said. "It looks great."

"You're welcome! If there's anything you need that I might be able to help with just let me know, okay? I want you and Patty together, you're just to perfect."

"Ah, Tsubaki, you won't-"

"No, I won't tell her you were here today," she smiled. "I think it would be a nice surprise for her later."

"Thank you."

**Lesson 2: Don't Think, Speak**

"Um-"

"What?"

"I really, uh-"

"Just spit it out already!"

"Um, I... I, uh.."

"Hold on, you can't talk to a woman like that," BlackStar said, waving a hand in the air. "Where's your confidence?"

"I don't exactly talk to women everywhere I go," Chrona replied sadly.

"Neither do I."

"But your weapon's a girl."

"Point taken. Alright, here's how this works, you talk to a woman like you would talk to anyone else. You've seen how I talk to Tsubaki. We're like best friends, you know? Tsubaki! Can you come here for a minute?"

Tsubaki came outside in her sweatpants and green t-shirt, folding her arms, a death glare aimed straight at BlackStar. "Can you be little less loud? I was right there, I could hear you."

"Sorry, but I need you to talk to Chrona," he said, brushing off her statement. "Here, Chrona, start a conversation."

Tsubaki sat down in the third chair and turned to face Chrona. She smiled at him. It wasn't like she was some stranger, but giving all of her attention to him so suddenly put him on the spot. BlackStar motioned for him to start talking and Chrona did try.

"H-How are you today?" he choked.

"I'm fine, just enjoying the weather and some fresh air," Tsubaki replied.

"You look, um, comfortable," he went on, attempting eye contact.

Tsubaki made sure to hold his gaze as they went on. The longer they talked, the more relaxed he became; at some point he produced sentences without stuttering. BlackStar listened and prompted him on whenever he started to revert back into his nervous habit. Tsubaki started to actually enjoy the conversation which switchd topics often. He was now ready to expand on that.

"This is key to conversation, alright? Don't forget it."

"Okay."

"Say what you mean. Don't beat around the bush, be straight forward. That is what seperates us from the women."

Tsubaki raised an eyebrow incredulously. "What is it with you and refering to woman as if we're a different species?"

"It's nothing personal," BlackStar said quickly, "but I'm drawing a line between how men do things and how women do things. It gets complicated if things get mixed up."

"Of course," she sighed.

"That's a great example right there," he said, motioning toward Tsubaki. "She said one thing but obviously meant something else. I would have said it was just an excuse rather than leave the other person guessing."

"Which means your speaking straight from your heart," Tsubaki added.

"Don't say something like that," BlackStar argued.

"So I just have to be myself and say exactly what I want to?" Chrona asked.

Tsubaki nodded and BlackStar rolled his eyes. He got the general idea so he couldn't exactly get mad at him.

**Lesson 3: Stand your ground**

Chrona furrowed his brow and tightened his mouth. BlackStar didn't hold back his laughter that time either. Chrona let the expression fall and folded his arms. Tsubaki brought out water then went back inside, leaving the back door open. BlackStar caught his breath and shook his head.

"I'm sorry Chrona," he chuckled, "but you really suck at making a scary face."

"Why do I have to do this anyway? I don't want her to be afraid of me," Chrona said.

"Who?"

"No one.."

"Now, you can use this for any fight or arguement. There's a certain look that lets the opponent know you're not going to give up without a fight. It's really just for standing your ground. Man-to-Man it either signals the real fight or puts you on the same field. Man-to-Woman is different. The fight could go on for much longer if you do this, then again, it ups your chances of winning."

"No it doesn't," Tsubaki called from the kitchen. "It's a last stand and only to be used when you're out of options. Take my advice on this one."

BlackStar turned to look into the side door. "I'm the one he asked for help, stop interrupting my lessons!"

"Whatever~" she called back.

He turned back to Chrona. "That was lessons one and two: being assertive and say what you mean. See how it works?"

Chrona nodded. "I'm still a little confused on this face thing."

"Alright, I'll show you. Stand up."

They stood and BlackStar leaned forward on the table. He punched the table and glared at Chrona.

"What did you just say?!"

Chrona leaned on the table. "I said that was my last piece."

"Then you'd better go get some more because I wanted one and you ate it all," BlackStar played into the random topic.

He furrowed his brow and tilted his head to where shadows were cast over his features. Chrona narrowed his eyes and leaned back just slightly to where the sun hit his eyes in that crazed blue color. BlackStar stood straight up and nodded his approval.

"That was pretty good," he lauded. "I was about ready to punch you in the face."

Chrona laughed nervously. "Yeah.."

BlackStar sat back down. "Well, I've taught you everything I can Chrona. They're basic things but anything else you learn will have to be on your own. I think you've grown up since we started."

Chrona sat down and sighed heavily. He did, admittedly, feel much more confident in himself. He felt much more capable of handling situations he may not have known how to deal with before. There was something different inside of him now and that felt good as well. Chrona had done this just for himself. All for himself and..._her_. Up until then he had actually managed to forget about her almost completely and it felt...good. Chrona froze at that realization that he had managed to drive her almost completely out of his life without suffering of any kind. He had actually felt normal for the first times in months.

"BlackStar?" Chrona asked to make sure he was paying attention.

"Yeah?"

"Can I talk about her now?"

"I guess this is the end of your training so go ahead," he shrugged.

"I just realized that I had barely thought about her at all and it feels okay."

BlackStar raised an eyebrow.

"It doesn't hurt to think about her anymore either," he went on. "Don't I care about her anymore?"

BlackStar stood and stretched his arms. "That's a question I can't answer," he yawned. "My job is done so go home already. That's probably where you'll find the answer. If everything turns out alright then I should see you around."

Chrona went back to his apartment and fell into bed. The past week had turned into quite an adventure under BlackStar's command. He had managed to avoid calling him Great One to often and his ego got in the way a lot, but it was still nice spending so much time with someone else. Chrona would never admit it out loud, but he had gained a new respect for the loud mouth assassin. He remained fairly serious through the "training." It would be even more amazing if all of it paid off and he could finally stand confidently in front of Patty. That, however, was a challenge he was willing to put off a little longer.


	9. Chapter 9: Love, not like, love!

It was a pretty good idea at first- she would admit that without hesitation- but she was sure her worry was justified when Patty started becoming lethargic. Liz was currently in the act of watching her little sister position herself with her feet over the back of the couch and resting upside-down to continue staring blankly at the ceiling. She had been sitting like that for the past two hours. Time went by quickly but Liz was fairly sure that it was not something she could spend two hours doing- forget about spazzy Patty! The older pistol picked up two cans of soda and moved in to shake her sister from her daze.

"Hey Patty~ what are you up to?" she chirped as she placed the cans on the coffee table.

"What does it look like? I'm staring at the ceiling," she mumbled just above inaudibility. "It's been three whole weeks and he hasn't even called."

Liz put her can to her lips to keep her thoughts to herself until she was sure they wouldn't say the wrong thing. What she wanted to say was she probably ran him off, it was Chrona after all. Those words would never escape her lips without dire consequences, however. Liz sipped her soda silently instead. Patty readjusted herself to sit right side up and picked up her can.

"Do you think he just gave up?" she whispered over the rim of her soda.

"I'm not saying anything for certain," Liz replied calmly. "This is Chrona we're talking about, but, he could definitely have done something in all this time. I think we should wait a little longer, you know, give him more time."

Patty stared solemnly into the hole in her can as she ran her finger over the rim. Liz knew all about these kinds of situations- even before Soul she was rather knowledgeable- so whatever she said must be good advice. Patty, on the other hand, was new to all this love stuff. She pouted at the shimmering dark drink and put down her can. Whether Liz was right or not she was done sitting around and waiting. Patty stood and faced her sister.

"I'm going to his apartment," she stated boldly. "I can't sit here waiting anymore- I have to see him!"

She ran to the stairs before Liz could stop her. The older pistol followed her sister up to her room where Patty grabbed a pair of sneakers and proceeded to put them on as she talked.

"I know this is all my fault and it's going to kill everything I already messed up but I can't just sit back and wait for him to come back because what if he doesn't and I'm left here waiting?"

Patty took in a deep breath and stood from her bed. She looked pleading into her sisters eyes. Liz couldn't say no when she looked at her like that so she retrieve her sandals. She let Maka know they were going out and asked if she needed anything. Maka was in the middle of painting a wall in her room when they came in. She had her hair back in a ponytail and some worn clothes on to paint in.

"No, I'm fine," she said, wiping at her forehead with the back of her hand. "Tell me how it goes, okay?"

"Alright," Liz answered with a wave.

...

Patty kept at a brisk walk to Chrona's apartment, not once glancing at anything or anyone as she walked. She was determined to end this stupid game she had started regardless of the consequences. It had been to long for him not to have called her or text her or anything! Her plan ended up back firing after all...

"Patty, calm down," Liz said as she strode next to her.

"No, I have to fix this. I have to stop this now."

"What- Patty!"

Patty suddenly sprinted down the sidewalk, leaving Liz to try to catch up. The world around her began to blur as she focused all of her thoughts on getting to Chrona. She didn't see the people running to get out of her way, only the distance to his apartment growing shorter. Patty would not let herself stop until she could touch him again. It had been so long since she last saw him or touched him or heard his meek voice. She forced more energy into her legs and Liz was finally left to go the rest of the way by herself. She stopped to catch her breath on a bench.

"Whatever," she panted, frustrated. "They could use some time alone anyway."

The jolt she had gotten wore down and Patty jogged up the stairs to apartment number fifty-six. She leaned forward on her knees to catch her breath. Her heart refused to stop attempting suicide by jumping out of her throat, the adrenaline and her nerves were giving it a run for its money. Patty finally caught her second wind and knocked on the door. She paced impatiently, waiting for it to open and show that tall, slender frame she wanted so much to hold. When there was no reply she knocked harder and continued to pace. There was still no answer so Patty peaked through the window to steal at least a glimpse of Chrona.

The inside was clean- very clean- and obviously empty. There were no clothes on the floor, no dishes sitting anywhere she could see, the carpet seemed all the same color and even the window was streak free. If anyone had not been aware that someone was living there they would have thought the apartment was vacant. Patty knew Chrona to be a nervous wreck so it was surprising that his apartment was so clean, especially considering his roommate. Patty blushed as she realized she had actually missed the annoying parasite. Her memories of him were not the most uplifting, but it was fun arguing with Ragnorak sometimes. She slapped her forehead in disbelief at the fact that she had just used _fun_ and _Ragnorak_ in the same sentence. Patty slid down the wall with her back resting against the wall underneath the window. Why wasn't Chrona there? Didn't he know he was supposed to be sulking and antisocial? He was supposed to be there so she could swoop in and make everything better.

"Chrona, you're so stupid sometimes," she chuckled as she stood and descended the stairs. "I guess I could use the exercise. Ready or not, here I come!"

* * *

Liz walked out of the ice cream shop digging into the cup of cold delight and moose tracks. Patty didn't need her there so early anyway, right? What if they fell into some passionate meeting? If she were there it would be so _embarrassing_ for all of them. Liz was content to sit in the park and eat her ice cream in peace. It was such a beautiful day; the sun was bright, the grass was green, all the children were in school, a nice breeze was playing through her hair, she had ice cream from her favorite shop, and the power to spend someone else's money. Nothing could have possibly made the moment any better. Liz took a scoop of ice cream and let it melt in her mouth. She let out a contented sigh before the moment was massacred by the sound of an arguing couple. They were so loud she could hear them before they came into view.

"No, I'm not talking about this anymore, we're done!"

"A few weeks with _him_ and you suddenly think you can get smart with me?! You're still a pathetic piece of crap!"

"I've been smart with you but you're just now caring because I'm not backing down."

"Shut up!"

"You shut up!"

Liz shielded her eyes and squinted into the distance at the approaching couple. Who makes so much noise this early in the morning and in a park? The closer they came the more she could pick out of their appearance. First off, there was only one person. They were tall, slender, and had a weird haircut. They were caring bags in either hand. Okay, it was a man. He was wearing a blue tee and sweatpants she could hear from there. Once she recognized who he was talking to she dubbed her relaxation time over.

"Chrona!" she shouted with the use of half a hand cone. "Hey, Chrona!"

Chrona looked forward, squinting his eyes to see in the bright sunlight.

"Who's that?!" Ragnorak shouted rather than asked.

"I think that's Liz," Chrona gasped.

Liz waved him over, not that she needed to, once he recognized her he was running right up to her. Chrona put his bags down on the bench and scooped her up in a bear hug. She whined about dropping her ice cream so he put her back down. He did notice she was alone but didn't let his disappointment show. Liz glared Ragnorak who had continued his raging rant by insulting the pistol.

"You look heavier than I remember you being last time," he said. "Actually, next to that big breasted sister of yours I don't remember you much at all."

Liz almost threw her ice cream on him if not for her love of moose tracks. "It's not my fault I'm smaller than my sister so shut up you stupid parasite!"

Chrona put a hand over Ragnorak's mouth before he could retort. "Where's Patty?"

"She went to your apartment," Liz said. "I'm guessing you weren't there."

"No, we needed food so I went to the grocery store."

"We can go together," Liz suggested' "And _you_ can tell me what you've been up to for the past three weeks."

Chrona picked up his bags and started back toward his apartment with Liz following, ice cream in hand.

* * *

Patty came out of the River Styx ice cream shop with a sugar cone piled high with three scoops of cotton candy ice cream. They always gave big scoops at River Styx- which is why she liked it there. The girl behind the counter said she had seen Liz a few minutes ago. Great, now she had lost her sister. If she got ice cream then she most likely went somewhere to relax. Patty turned to go back home, thinking Liz would have gone back to kick up her feet with her favorite ice cream. Once she got her sister they would go back to Chrona's and, hopefully, he would be there.

She managed to lower her scoops into a mound of pink and blue by the time she got back to the mansion. She went inside the mansion and peeked around the living area and the bedrooms before concluding that Liz was, in fact, not there. Soul caught her on her way downstairs and waved.

"Hey, Maka told me you and Liz had gone out," he said.

"Yeah, we did, but then I lost her running to Chrona's," she pouted.

"What were you going to do at Chrona's?" Soul asked curiously.

"I was going to fix everything, seeing as it was my fault.. Actually, he wasn't at home so I was looking for him! Wanna help me find him?"

Patty was pleading more so than asking. Soul smiled and put an arm around her shoulder.

"Yeah, I'll help you find him. Come on little sis."

* * *

Liz's eyes wandered all over Chrona's apartment. It was so clean, even more so for a guy to be living there. Soul wasn't that bad but he wasn't the cleanest person she knew. Chrona put away the food in the kitchen while she wandered around. She had to admit, it was small, but nice for a someone living alone.

"This is the first time I've been inside your apartment," she said when she sat down on the couch. "It's nice- just perfect for one person or two really close people."

"Thanks...I guess," Chrona replied as he saved the bags away into a drawer.

"Now, tell me what you've been up to! No one's heard from you in a while, we thought you had left on another assignment from Shinigami-sama."

Chrona joined her on the couch and rubbed his arm nervously. "No, I've been here. I haven't had a new assignment in a while though. I spent a while sulking after...you know."

"But there's something different about you now," Liz observed with narrowed eyes. "Did you cut your hair?"

She stared at his shoulder length locks with a menacing glare, causing Chrona to shiver.

"N-No I didn't cut my hair," Chrona replied nervously. "I...I took Patty's advice."

"Her advice? Advice on what?"

* * *

Soul knew Liz's favorite places to go when relaxing outside of the mansion so he led Patty on a short trip around the city. They went by the old basketbell court they used to play at when attending Shibusen. No one had taken the time to fix it up, the bench still had the words they had written on it all those years ago. BlackStar had written the number one as if that were all it needed to say. Kid had written "symmetry" next to Soul's "cool" and under Tsubaki's "love". Maka thought a long time before writing her word, "independent." Patty remebered writing "giraffe" next to Liz's "family." She ran her hand over the words with a sad smile. "It feels like we were just here yesterday," Soul reminisced.

"Yeah, it's so wierd looking at it now," Patty agreed. "This was even before Chrona became a part of our group. That was a long time ago, huh?"

"Geez, I'm starting to feel old. Let's go look in the park," Soul said, taking Patty's hand.

There was no trace of Liz anywhere in the park. Patty climbed a tree and tried to spot her from up there but to no avail. She jumped down and they continued on to the stores she frequented. None of the clerks had seen her that day either. Patty sighed in defeat.

"I can't imagine where else she could have gone off to," Soul said, rubbing the back of his neck. "She was supposed to be with you wasn't she?"

"Yeah, she was.."

"Maybe she went ahead to Chrona's place to wait for you. He may have come back by now."

Patty didn't wait another minute once it was said; she grabbed Soul's arm and ran from the store with her sights set on Chrona's apartment once again. Soul half stumbled, half ran after her.

* * *

Liz stared at the black blooded meister in disbelief. Had he really done such a thing? Did he seriously do this with _BlackStar _of all people? She shook the incredulous look from her face and narrowed her eyes at him. Chrona sweatdropped at her reaction; she was completely overreacting.

"So you went to BlackStar...about being manly?" She made air-quotes as she said the last word.

"It was Ragnorak's idea," he pointed out. "I actually didn't want to go."

"You can never say anything about me ever again," she said to the weapon with a smug grin.

"I can say whatever I want fatty!" he snapped.

"What?! Did you just- Did he just call me _fat_?!" Liz gasped. "Watch who you're talking to you little weed!"

"Oh, 'little weed'. Is that the best you got fatso?!"

"Keep going and I'll pick a few more choice words just for you," she hissed.

"I wouldn't be surprised, sheesh! You could hide a couple of cheese burgers in that flab!"

"That's it! You're done you little worm!"

Liz lunged at Ragnorak, forgetting all about her conversation with Chrona, and tried to grab him before he went back inside of Chrona. The person in question was holding her wrists to prevent her from scratching into him like a cat post; it looked like she had recently gotten a manicure. Liz stopped struggling and let him push her back, but not without a glare at the black weapon.

"I-I'm sorry about that Liz," Chrona apologized nervously. "He's in a particularly bad mood today and is taking out on me for some reason."

"Because it's your fault!" Ragnorak shouted and punched him in the head.

"Ow!"

"It's not his fault you're a useless apendage," she retorted.

"I'm not his only useless apendage, trust me."

Chrona rolled his eyes and Liz lashed out at Ragnorak. He retreated just in time for her fist to hit Chrona dead in the ear.

"Ow! Ahh~ Liz-"

"I'm sorry Chrona! Sorry, sorry..." She rubbed his ear.

What kind of perverted little creature was this coming out of sweet and innocent Chrona?! She knew she had walked right into that one but the way he said it was so...wrong. A knock on the door summoned Chrona from the couch and he went to answer it with a hand over his ear. He unlocked it and pulled the door open. A loud thump would be heard on the ceiling of the person below them. Liz leaned over the arm of the couch to see Chrona on the floor with Patty on top of him, her arms around his neck. Soul stepped over them and smiled at her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, not that she was complaining.

"I was helping Patty find you and Chrona but it looks like you've been here the whole time," he answered, sitting next to her.

"Yeah, I ran into him at the park and we walked back to meet Patty but she was gone when we got here."

Patty was currently distracted by that pink haired, black blooded meister. She added his warm, thin lips into the equation and wanted to melt into his arms right there. Chrona was caught completely off guard but not so much that he couldn't return the favor. Liz choked down a scream as she saw their lips part invitingly to eachother. One part of her wanted to rip her sister off of him and slap some sense into her, yet another, stronger, side refused to ruin their reunion. Soul pulled Liz into his lap and held her against his chest to calm the conflict he saw in her expression.

At some point the couple realized they did indeed need to breath and pulled apart. Chrona breathed heavily as he stared into Patty's light blue irises. She smiled back into his dark eyes before getting off of him.

"Finally," Liz said, "I was wondering how far you two were gonna go with all that."

"Oh sis," Patty giggled.

Chrona only blushed and grabbed his arm, still unable to lose that nervous habit.

"Could we get some privacy please?" Patty asked, now blushing herself. "I need to talk to Chrona."

"Sure," Liz said as she shimmied from Soul's lap.

They went outside and closed the door. Patty then turned to Chrona. There was so much to say but where to begin? She pulled him to the couch and sat him down then sat next to him.

"Chrona, I'm sorry about what I said to you," she blurted out. "That was awful and I shouldn't have said that in front of everyone like that. I was being so selfish and not thinking about you at all and-"

"Wait, no, I'm sorry Patty," he said. "If you hadn't done that then I wouldn't have been able to become the kind of person you could depend on and I wouldn't be able to live with myself. I appreciate everything you've done for me."

"But-"

"L-Let's not talk about that any more," he said. "There's something I want to ask you now."

Patty kept silent as he took her hands in his and held them firmly. She looked up into his eyes, her heart beating a little to fast.

"Will you...

"I'm pretty I answered this question already," Patty speculated.

"Wha- When?"

"When I did this."

Patty leaned forward and took his lips once again. She was sure no matter how many times they did this she would never get tired of that soft sweetness that accompanied the sensation. The front door opened slightly to let Liz and Soul peek inside.

"I knew it!" Liz exclaimed, startling the lovers apart. "Am I gonna have to put a muzzle on you two?"

"Sis!" Patty whined. "Stop it! Can't you see I'm in the middle of my happy ending?!"

Liz stuck out her tongue and closed the door again. Patty shook her head then faced Chrona.

"Sorry about that."

"I don't mind," he chuckled. "She is your sister after all."

Patty threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. That soft sweetness was very comforting to breath in as well. She couldn't hold it in anymore and the tears ran from her eyes onto his shirt, spotting it with dark blue dots. Chrona hugged her back.

"What's wrong?" he asked, alarmed by the sudden tears.

"I...I'm just so happy~!" she cried.

Chrona laughed and kissed her cheek. "So am I."

* * *

A/N: Yaay! Reconciliation! I'm not sure how I'm actually going to end this one, but I'm sure something **not cheesey** will come to me sooner or later. There was an idea I was musing over and a reviewer also brought it up as an idea. I may end up going with it, maybe something else will come to me. We'll just have to see!


	10. Chapter 10: Happy Birthday to Me!

A/N: Oh my goodness, I finally finished it! This one was a long wait, surely the longest yet! I apologize for that, but this will also be the longest chapter of any of my stories so far! A whopping seventeen pages! I want to thank the readers and reviewers for the length of this chapter and for making this story my longest one! (chapter and word count wise) Please enjoy this chapter I worked so hard on it.

Happy Reading~!

* * *

They had suffered through a lot the past two months; no one could say they hadn't been quite a bit emotionally. It was a nice change of scenery to see Patty snuggled up with Chrona on the couch and both of them sleeping peacefully. Liz used to hate how heavy a sleeper her sister was until recently. She was always able to catch them in a really cute moment sleeping together and snag a picture without waking either of them up. Little did Liz know Chrona was secretly fretting...as usual. It wasn't until she caught him in the middle of one of his signature panic attacks- blue eyed and all- that she found something wrong.

"What's wrong now?" Liz asked, grabbing Chrona's shoulders and turning him to face her. "Calm down and tell me!"

Chrona took a deep breath and tried despreately to look her in the eyes. "T-Today's the f-f-fourteenth," he stuttered shamefully.

"So? What's the problem? You better not have me freaking about nothing," Liz warned with a dangerous gleam in her eyes.

"N-No! Next Tuesday i-is..." He lowered his eyes, afraid to jinx it.

There was an eerie silence between them as Liz thought over the month. She squeezed Chrona's shoulders when the event and date of next Tuesday set into her mind.

"Oh my Death! Patty's birthday is next week?!"

"What do mean 'oh my Death'? She's your sister and you didn't know what day her birthday was?"

Liz glared at him before she started to pace the floor. She had completely forgotten about it what with all the excitement they had just gotten over and everything was just starting to regain its proper peace. It was already Wednesday and they didn't have anything planned for her party! Patty was turning twenty-four that year but surely she would want something fun to do with everyone. What could she do in just six days? Liz paced until she walked into Chrona, who had been following her.

"What are you doing? Don't you need to be getting her a gift or something?" Liz said, rubbing her sore temples.

"That's the problem," he groaned.

"What do you mean? You've been friends for years and dating as of a week ago. You should be able to get her a present, easy."

"But should I get her something as a friend or as her boyfriend?"

Liz shook her head and grabbed his wrist. "You're hopeless," she sighed. "I can go get things for the party while you find her a present. Keep in mind I'm not helping you, but I will offer my opinion if you ask."

"Thank you," Chrona sighed as he followed her out.

Chrona pulled the door closed as they went out. Kid peeked out from the kitchen as Patty came running down the stairs, swinging her arms with each step. She slid to a stop in front of him and put on a large grin. Kid smiled back over his tea.

"Can you believe it Kid, next Tuesday is my birthday!" she announced proudly. "I can't wait for the party and gifts and the huuuuge cake I'm gonna have. Thank you so much for my awesome birthday party Kid!"

She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly before running out with her arms spread wide and zigzagged away. He heard the door close a few minues later. Kid sighed, an animated sweatdrop sliding slowly down his head.

"How did I forget about her birthday?" he thought aloud.

* * *

Tsubaki walked through the room with a basket full of clothes tucked under her arm. She paused to pick up a sock and glanced at the boys arguing on the couch.

"That was my win- you cheated!"

"No way, I won that round fair and square loser!"

"Who you callin' a loser?!"

"You of course, ya loser!"

Later Soul and BlackStar would claim their manhood for some ridiculous reason to rights but Tsubaki made sure to make a mental note to mention this little spat later. She shook her head and walked into the laundry room to fill the washing machine. They were so immature sometimes. She still entertained the thought of if they were partners at times. Soul as BlackStar's weapon was not a pretty picture, not that he needed one now, he was death scythe. So was she for that matter.

As the thoughts rolled on in her head he went to load in a pair of BlackStar's pants when something fell out of the pocket. It fell back into the basket. Tsubaki picked it up; a small, silver box with two intertwined stars stitched into the top. She ran her finger over the design curiously then went to open it...

"Oh, you found it!" BlackStar exclaimed, startling the weapon. "Thanks, I was looking all over for this." He walked up and plucked it from her hands.

"It was in your dirty clothes," she said meekly. "What is it?"

"It's just a box I found...somewhere," he lied terribly as he shoved it into his pocket.. "I thought it looked kind of cool."

"Okay..." Tsubaki went back to loading the washing machine without asking any more questions.

BlackStar slinked back into the living room where he joined Soul on the couch and picked his controller back up. He started up another round of _Street Fighter_ without a word. Soul stayed silent until he won four straight rounds. He whirled angrily on his friend.

"Don't call yourself going easy on me," he warned.

"She found it," BlackStar droned.

Soul backed down, suddenly feeling like a jerk. "Did she see it?"

BlackStar shook his head and put down the controller. Soul started when he noticed an uncharacteristic difference as BlackStar pulled his finges through his hair- he was shaking. Soul raised an eyebrow at this. When he had brought up the idea of proposing to Tsubaki Soul had honestly thought he was joking. He remained unconvinced when he spent over thirty-thousand dollars on the ring, despite seeing him come out of his own pocket for it. Now he knew things were serious.

"If you're gonna go through with it, then you should make sure it's done right," Soul suggested. "Knowing you it's probably not going to turn out like that though, right?"

"No way," BlackStar chuckled nervously. "She's gotta be used to attention if she's going to be my wife. A big guy like me can't help but draw crowds. It'll get even worse when we get married. Two people with as much greatness as we have together...forever.."

He started to waver and Soul stuffed a twinkie in his mouth. BlackStar took it out and layed back on the arm of the couch. Okay, this was much more serious than he had previously thought. BlackStar's eyes slowly started to close. Soul paniced before punching him in the face. BlackStar's eyes flew open and before either knew what had happened he had Soul in a headlock.

"You idiot- Why'd you hit me?!" he shouted, back to his normal self again.

"Who cares..gah..it worked," Soul coughed.

Tsubaki came out of the laundry room, shook her head at their fight and went along to her room for a nap.

* * *

Liz walked out of the party store with bags weighing down both of her arms but feeling very accomplished. She had managed to get all of the party decorations, balloons, and cards from that one store. It was a miracle! Now she could spend the rest of the time planning the party. She entered Dillard's where she was supposed to meet Chrona but he was nowhere to be seen. Liz walked up and down the aisles looking for the pink haired meister. She finally found him talking with a woman at the jewelry counter. The woman's curly brown hair bounced as she showed a silver necklace, lifting it every now and then as she spoke.

"There you are Chrona," Liz sighed, walking up to stand next to him. "This is nice."

"Oh, is this your girlfriend?" the woman asked with a smile.

"No, this is her sister," Chrona replied. "She's helping me find something for her though."

"This is a beautiful necklace, I would love to get something like this for my birthday. Is that a real diamond?"

"Yes, it is one hundred percent real. I doubt you'll be able to find one of this quality anywhere else."

"Are you going to get it Chrona?" Liz inquired. "I think Patty would love something like this."

Chrona shook his head. "No, I don't think so," he sighed.

Both of the women turned on him with wide eyes. Chrona laughed and put a hand on Liz's shoulder.

"It's nice, yeah, but she wouldn't wear something like this everyday. I want to get her something she can keep with her that's...personal."

The woman quickly put away the necklace and returned it to the case. Liz was sure she had seen a slight pinkness in her cheeks. She looked back to Chrona.

"It's your decision, so I'm not going to say anything else, but what are you going to get her if not that beautiful diamond necklace? It was beautiful!"

"You'll see, it's going to be perfect."

Chrona took the bags from her and started out of the store. Liz just shook her head then ran after him. Whatever he had in mind it had better be good because she was pretty sure nothing could out-do that necklace. Chrona was on a mission now; he kept at a brisk walk for two blocks. Liz got side tracked by the bakery and dragged him inside to help her choose a cake for Patty. She went through three catalogues before finally choosing a marble cake with a strawberry and white mix. Before she could decide on the decorations Chrona dragged her out promising they would come back after getting Patty's present.

He took her to a small jewelry shop that sat comfortably out of the way. Liz had been to every store in town and could safely say she did not know that it was there. The building was made of red brick with small neat windows that reflected Liz's incredulous expression as they entered through the lovely white wooden door. A man behind the counter waved at them as they came in. Chrona walked up to the counter and leaned on it.

"I've seen you around here a few times," the man said thoughtfully. "I'm glad you finally decided to come in. I'm Liam, the owner."

He extended a hand and Chrona took his gesture kindly. "I'm Chrona, that's my girlfriend's sister and we're here to find a birthday gift."

"Oh, I see! You lookin' for anything in particular? Diamond, gold..."

"I was hoping to get something she could wear all the time, something simple," Chrona explained.

"Like a bracelet?"

Liam took a black box display from the glass case and put it up on the counter. Liz picked up a gold bracelet and held it up to the light. Chrona eyed the shining silver chains, gold crosses, silver angels, and diamond hearts. They were all nice but still not exactly what he was looking for. Liam recognised the dissatisfaction on his face and put the display away.

"You look like a good guy," he started, "so I'll cut you a deal, I'll give you anything you want from this display for five hundred dollars."

"Are you serious?" Liz blurted out. "Can I use that too?"

"Only one item, ma'am," Liam shrugged.

Chrona looked through the display case, mentally scrutinizing every piece of jewelry. Nothing seemed to jump out at him. He wanted to make sure his gift was something she would look at and always think of him- of how much he loved her. A necklace was a nice idea, but to public and general; like a high school sweetheart. A bracelet would run the risk of getting lost, knowing her habits, and still to public. Earrings had the same problem. Chrona started to think about a stuffed animal, which she would undoubtedly love despite how childish it was, when his eyes fell on the most genuine little ring. It had a band of sterling silver that curled into tiny hearts around a small pink stone that sat prettily ontop.

Recognising the sudden pause, Liam got his key and walked down the counter to where Chrona was frozen. He noted where his nose was pressed against the glass and took out the small ring. Chrona followed him back down to the register without taking his eyes from the ring for a even a second. Liz nodded her approval as he took out his wallet for the purchase. Liam put it in a case, bagged it, then handed it off.

"She's going to love that ring," he said with a wave as they were leaving.

"Thank you," Chrona called back.

They walked back to the apartment, deciding that the cake could wait. Liz checked the house before letting Chrona come in with the party supplies. Kid came down from his room when he heard them come in.

"I see you're done shopping for Patty's party," he stated casually.

"Don't you dare look at me like that," Liz warned with a pout. "What have you been doing all this time? Her party's in six days!"

"I'm sorry I've been keeping the peace between us reapers and the witches, ensuring that we stay allies, in fact, and not fall back into fighting eachother, instead of planning Patty's party. I'm surely the worst person alive."

Liz glared at him, a sign that he had won this arguement. She took the bags up to her room to hide them. Kid noticed the contented expression on Chrona's face and, though it was becoming common placed, he was curious.

"Was it really that much fun shopping with Liz?"

"Ah, no, I-I got Patty's present," he said. "It's a ring."

Kid raised his eyebrows, impressed. "Look at you! She's going to love it for sure. I have to get something for her too, and get everything going as far as the party itself goes. It has to be special, you know, for Patty. Will you do something with her afterwards?"

Chrona nodded. "Yeah, I have some plans," he replied nonchalantly.

"This could really heighten your relationship if you treat her nicely that evening," Kid commented. "On Maka's birthday I got us lost-" he makes air quotes- "in a river, I can't even remeber where, but we ended up spending the night in my yatch. It was cold so I got to hold her the entire night."

Chrona sat at the counter as Kid went into the kitchen.

"After you give her that ring she won't want to leave you alone," Kid smirked.

"I wanted to get her something special," Chrona said. "Hopefully this will be enough.."

"Hopefully?" Kid echoed. "You give her that and you won't have to say another word ever again."

Chrona chuckled at that. He loved Patty more than he could just walk up and say to her. It wasn't one of those kinds of things at all. His love grew every moment he spent with her and hurt when they were apart. It was alive and unyielding. The ring he had chosen was because it was probably what she would have found cute, but, the actual ring itself would symbolized an abundance of things for him. Chrona could only hope that it would convey what he wanted so badly to say but had no words for.

* * *

BlackStar watched from his room as Tsubaki wiped up the kitchen for the night. She had her black, back length hair loose since she was going to bed right after she finished. BlackStar recognized the knots in his stomach and heat rushing to his face as the same reaction he had to her before they actually attained "item" status. They were always an "item" as far as he was concerned, but whatever; the whole situation was annoying to say the least. He was surely beyond this stage, so why was he feeling so, so..._nervous_ about talking to her now? BlackStar closed his door and took out the small silver box. He slowly opened it and looked at the ring. A pink-gold band with a rather large diamond sitting ontop stared back at him.

"You were the biggest stupid rock I could find without blowing all of my money and you're even pink freakin' gold," BlackStar complained to the inanimate object. "Why can't I just walk up and give you to her? It's no big deal..."

"BlackStar?" Tsubaki's voice floated softly around the door.

He snapped the case closed and shoved it in his pocket before opening the door. Tsubaki stood with her hands clasped in front of her and looking up at him with a small smile. She stepped into the room and wrapped her arms around his middle, craning her neck to look up at him.

"I'm ready for bed," she said in her soft sleepy voice. "Come and tuck me in."

He silently followed her lead to the bed and slid in under the covers next to her. Tsubaki replaced her arms around him and snuggled in close to him. BlackStar turned out the bedside lamps. They lay together in silence with their bodies meshed close together beneath the increasingly warm covers.

"BlackStar, what's wrong," Tsubaki asked in the dark.

"Nothing, go to sleep," he replied, putting an arm around her.

"You've been acting differently the past few days," she continued as if he had said nothing. "You're not as...loud." She chose the last word carefully.

"Nothing's wrong, just go to sleep Tsubaki," he sighed into her hair.

"If you say so..."

The silence resumed for all of five minutes, then Tsubaki found something else to talk about.

"Patty's birthday is coming up next Tuesday," Tsubaki yawned against his chest. "We have to get her a present and help with the party."

"Alright," BlackStar conceeded tiredly.

"Whatever's wrong you know I'll find out sooner or later," she said finally. "I would rather you just talk to me instead of having me worry about nothing."

"You worry to much, nothing's wrong, I told you already. Can we just go to sleep? I don't feel like talking."

Tsubaki opened her eyes to stare dumbfoundedly into the darkness of their bedroom. Did BlackStar just say he didn't feel like _talking_? There was definently something wrong with him and he was not telling her. Tsubaki placed a gentle kiss on his collarbone before fighting herself into sleep. She was honestly to tired to fully worry about what he wasn't telling her so she settled to finding out later.

BlackStar stared tiredlessly into the darkness, as sleep refused to come to him. That one little object no bigger than a nickel, at best, was causing him so much grief! It was undoubtedly a beautiful ring and she would like it no matter what, but why couldn't he give it to her if that was the case? BlackStar lowered his nose to breath in the smell of Tsubaki's cherry blossom shampoo in an attempt to calm his nervous tension. It didn't work, of course. She was sleeping soundly by that time and he couldn't move with her arms wrapped so comfortably around him. However it happened, he had settled on telling her some kind of way before Patty's birthday. If he couldn't get it out by then he decided he would sell the ring. Starting tomorrow, he would propose to Tsubaki.

* * *

6 days later...

"Make sure you get all of them up there where they won't fall until someone pulls the rope," Liz called up the ladder to Soul.

"Gotcha," he called back down from almost ten feet in the air.

Liz went to check up on how the others were doing with the banner. Maka, Tsubaki and Blair were painting the banner to say "Happy 24th Patty!" They were spotted with yellow, blue and black paint. Liz stood over them to read it.

"Guys.." she said, staring at the banner with a raised brow.

They looked up with contented smiles.

"Why does it say 'Happy Sexy 24th Patty'?" she asked, rubbing her temples.

"Blair thought it would be better that way," Maka giggled. "I have to say I like it."

"Me too," Tsubaki agreed.

Blair smiled proudly as she went back to painting in the "P" in Patty. Liz was fine with the change but why did they have to paint it in a fashion that resembled fishnet stockings? She sighed, knowing full well she deserved it for letting Blair help with this instead of helping with the catering. Kid walked up next to her. He smiled when he saw the sign.

"It looks great you guys," he encouraged them.

"Thanks! This was Blair's idea," the magical kitty said pointing out the fishnet letters.

"That's my favorite part."

Liz pulled him away to the other side of the room where the tables were being set up. As to be expected from Kid everything was set to perfection with exceptional symmetry. The tables, decorations, and centerpieces were all matching on every degree. The food would be coming in tomorrow morning and Liz would have to go get the cake from the bakery so everything was being set up the day before to make sure it would all be perfect. They would have to compare both sides of the room when finished to make sure the entire presentation was symmetrical with the other side.

"Everything's going well," Kid speculated. "Things should be just fine for tomorrow. Patty's going to love this. I even got some nice giraffe floor decorations. I had to have them flown in from Florida, but it was worth it."

"Patty's gonna freak when she sees those huge stuffed animal girrafe's," Liz giggled. "We did good for such short notice, huh?"

"Of course," Kid agreed. "There was no doubt we couldn't get something together for her."

Liz went back to where Soul and BlackStar were filling the net with balloons for the blowing out of the candles. When Patty blew out her candles Kid would pull a rope and the net would release the balloons holding tiny stuffed animals. Her sister was a sucker for the little things, who knew? They finished that and took a break to let the finished banner dry before hanging it up. Soul sat on the floor- Kid would not let him sit at the set up tables- against the wall. Liz sat next to him and wrapped her arms around him.

"You did a good job," she said, looking up at the net.

Soul chuckled. "What did you think I would do?"

"Oh stop, I didn't mean it like that," she giggled. "We're almost finished decorating now. You and BlackStar just have to get that banner up and we're done. Then we have to keep Patty from coming in here until tomorrow."

"That shouldn't be to hard with Chrona's help," Soul said. "He's got her out now and they probably won't be back until tonight."

"I'm so glad they finally got together. Aren't they cute?" Liz cooed.

"Sure," Soul replied safely.

"I hope they come back in time for the birthday dinner," Liz mused. "She's going out with Chrona tomorrow night so we're having it tonight. How romantic~ I hope Chrona does something good, not like what you did to me on my birthday."

Soul laughed at the memory of Liz clinging to him as they walked through the empty city that night. He had told her a lie, er, story of a ghost that haunted the city. She had been so terrified she insisted they share his room for the night. Needless to say he got his come-upings in the morning.

"That was not funny," she pouted. "What did I even see in you?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he said, hugging her close. "I love you."

"I guess I love you too," Liz replied.

He turned her face toward his and pressed his lips softly to hers. She smiled through the kiss and whispered something against his lips that he refused to acknowledge at such a moment. BlackStar sat over the banner with Tsubaki as it dried. Blair had gone to make some fish and Maka went upstairs to wash off the paint before it decided to stain her skin. Tsubaki's hair was up in it's signature ponytail and she had a stain of yellow on her cheek and forehead. The over-sized shirt she wore was blotched with every color they had used.

Tomorrow was the party and he had still failed to present her with the ring. Every time he got up the nerve to something happened; she was asleep or training or out of the house or on the phone or chatting on her computer. There was really never a perfect time to do it. Looking back now, all of those seemed to be sad excuses he could have gotten over if he tried. It was just so nerve wrecking proposing to spend the rest of your life with someone just like that! BlackStar stared blankly at the banner, unaware at how worried Tsubaki seemed.

"BlackStar?" She poked his arm. "Hey, BlackStar."

He blinked then looked at her. "What?"

Tsubaki sighed frustratedly. "You were doing it again."

"Doing what?"

"Staring into space! I wish you would tell me what's wrong BlackStar. I can't take this!"

"I-I will," he assured her. "I'll tell you, I promise."

She folded her arms and gave him a look that read "don't you dare lie to me." He pulled her onto his lap and held her tightly. Tsubaki leaned back against his chest and sighed.

"You promised," she said putting a finger to his nose.

"Yeah, and I'll tell you just like I promised, alright?" He nuzzled the side of her neck, earning a giggled from the female weapon.

She leaned her head back on his shoulder to where she could look him in the eyes. She kissed the line of his jaw and he replied with a soft brushing of his lips over hers. Tsubaki smiled at his teasing, catching his face between her hands and planting another kiss on his lips. There was so much more in that kiss than she knew. He would propose that night at the dinner, for sure.

They returned to the decorating and hung up the banner to finalize it all. The girls cheered once they got it up and everyone was free to go. Liz suggested they all go gift shopping, guessing that someone in that room did not have a gift for Patty tomorrow. After all they went through she would probably be fine with it, but Liz was having none of that.

"Ah man," BlackStar groaned. "And after all this I was ready to go home..."

"Not if you don't have a gift," Liz said sternly.

"I really don't think she'll care after seeing all this," he retorted, very much annoyed at the moment.

"Well ,we're going anyway. Let's go!"

"This is your fault," he stabbed a finger at the white haired death scythe accusingly.

* * *

The entire day had been centered around Patty and they just couldn't go home without spending those last few hours of the night with said birthday girl. It was eight o' clock at night and they almost had the entire resturaunt to themselves if they ignored the few smooching, late night couples that occupied about three other tables well enough. Liz toasted to Patty turning the big two-four.

"To the rest of your life!" she shouted loud enough to catch the eyes of the other couples.

The others cheered loudly and clinked glasses, sending champagne spilling on shirts and down dresses shamelessly. Patty laughed as BlackStar poured his glass on her head and patted it affectionately.

"Thank you guys," she giggled, wiping away the liquid streaming from her hair. "I'm glad that everyone was able to be here for my birthday."

They smiled but knew she was speaking mainly to Chrona. Needless to say, a few more hours and they ran off the remaining couples with their party behavior. Tonight was their night, Patty's night, and anyone else who wanted it who didn't get in there way. They left their table a mess when they finally had to leave. Kid left a big tip for the waiter, knowing how much trouble they had caused. They whooped and hollered all the way back to the mansion. If you hadn't known otherwise you'd think they were a bunch of drunk teens coming from an illegal party in someone's garage. True they had consumed about two bottles of wine but they weren't light weights in the least.

Patty led the precession up the stairs, howling and waving her arms in the air. This was genuine birthday high. They paused at the top of the stairs and gathered in a circle, still sounding like crazed teens. As much fun as this was, it was a cold night so Kid broke off and went to open the door. They gradually stopped and it turned into unquenchable laughter. Tsubaki bent over on her knees, her stomach hurting from the laughter, when she opened her teary eyes and noticed she had a slipper missing.

"Oh, my slipper," she breathed as she attempted to regain control of herself.

Tsubaki looked back down the steps and saw it a few steps down. She tapped BlackStar's shoulder then pointed to the green footwear on the step below. He went back to retrieve it then returned to put it back on her foot. BlackStar knelt and Tsubaki put her hand on his shoulder to balance as she lifted her foot for him to slide her slipper back on. As he went to stand something occured to him and he froze in his kneeling position. His heart suddenly started to pound faster as he realized what the situation was calling for. Tsubaki put a hand on his head, causing him to look up into those dark blue irises tainted with worry.

"BlackStar?"

"I can finally tell you..." he whispered as he reached into his pocket to pull out the small silver box.

"The box?"

"Tsubaki... We've stayed at a steady pace about our relationship, which is really boring so I'm looking to spice things up...for good."

He opened the box to reveal the pink-gold ring inside with the diamond gleaming in the late moonlight. He had everyone's attention now.

"Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. Will you marry me?"

There was a sharp, insistent silence following as Tsubaki choked back the tears threatening to fall. Maka failed as she covered her mouth in surprise. Liz looked from BlackStar to Tsubaki and back. Was this seriously happening?! Deeming herself ready, Tsubaki took a deep breath and nodded.

"Yes," she breathed shakily. "Yes I will marry you."

BlackStar slid the ring onto her finger and they embraced to the cheering of their friends. Tsubaki cried into his shoulder as he held her, unable to hold back any longer. BlackStar looked over his shoulder to Soul, just to ruin the moment.

"Did I do it right?" he asked, eyebrow raised.

Soul chuckled and slapped his forehead. "Yeah, stupid, you did it right."

They all spent the night at the mansion to make the night last long into the morning. It goes without saying they trashed the dining hall with their wild party and celebrating for Patty's birthday. Patty went crazy when she saw the giraffes and stuffed animals. The air was full of content and flying water balloons as the party went on. No one left dry, thanks to BlackStar and Patty. They pelted everyone with water balloons, their partners being the main targets.

Chrona chased Patty around the room, trying to get the last water balloon away from her before she could throw it at anyone. BlackStar shouted for her to throw it to him but she refused to let it out of her arms. Patty tripped and rolled onto her back, the balloon still intact, until Chrona fell ontop of her that is. A rush of cold water engulfed them both from face to chest. She laughed a loud as he helped her up and kissed her forehead.

"This is an amazing party," she shouted. "Thank you guys so much~!"

"What else would you expect?" Liz called back.

Maka gathered everyone to the table of gifts where Patty ravenged through the wrapped boxes. She opened the one from Liz first. She gasped as she took out a bracelet made of running giraffes from a black case. It was tan with little brown stone as the spots. She slipped it on then went to hug her sister tightly. The next one she opened was from Tsubaki. She squealed when she saw the sheer off the shoulder top. Next came BlackStar's gift. She hesitated before opening the bright colored bag. She sighed then pulled out the autographed picture of him. Liz glared at BlackStar, who looked far to proud of his gift. Next was Kid and Maka's gift. She tore the packaging and lifted out the beautiful red velvet halter gown. Patty hugged them both tightly then went back to her presents. Last, but not least, Soul's gift to the birthday girl. Patty smiled when she saw it, unable to help herself. Out of the bag came a black hairband with a large red bow attached to it, strangely matching the dress.

"These gifts were.." She paused when she made eye contact with BlackStar. "Well, most of them were really nice!"

"I saw that," BlackStar growled.

"Thank you all for being such awesome friends and throwing me this awesome party~"

"It's go big or go home," Soul grinned.

"And we always go big," BlackStar finished.

The dining hall was a mess; food everywhere, trash, everything was soaked from the water balloon fight, shoes were scattered all over the place, balloon piece were all over. This was going to be a huge clean up job. They sat together at the table as Patty left to go get ready for her night with Chrona. He followed her out, wishing them luck with the monstrous mess.

"I hate all of you," Liz sighed, playing lazily with a lock of Soul's hair. "Why did you have to go make such a huge mess? We'll be cleaning this place up all day~"

"It's already night Liz," Tsubaki sighed, rubbing the sighed of her engagement ring. "We'll be cleaning into tomorrow."

"Ahh~ I hate all of you!"

Kid just laughed at her attempt at detachment. She couldn't trully hate them if she tried. They were far to intertwined to break apart that easily. "We can get to cleaning up after a nap," he suggested. "I'm to tired to move right now..."

Maka leaned over his back, resting her head between his shoulder blades. "Agreed, I'm done for at least an hour," she groaned.

"Let's sleep for now," Liz yawned. "It'll be there when we get up."

* * *

The sun was nearly hidden behind the horizon, drool hanging from it's open mouth as it descended. The city was going to sleep now but there were two souls not yet ready to give up the high life. Chrona walked Patty down the steps of the mansion holding her hand. She wore the dress and hairband she had gotten as gifts as well as the giraffe bracelet. She wore simple sandals underneath but they worked with it as much as the bracelet did.

"At least we've already eaten," Patty giggled.

"Then we can get right to the fun," Chrona smiled.

"Yay!" she squeaked. "Ah- Wait, everything's closing now..."

Patty looked up at Chrona, questions popping up in her mind like daisies. Chrona only smiled, confusing the pistol further, as he led her away into the night. Most of the buildings in the city were closing now so where in the world was he taking her? Patty racked her brain as they walked through the streets and took two left turns, then a right. She was pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of a musty building stuffed with hot sweaty people and loud music. Her eyes opened wide as she recognized the rundown building she remembered from the Steamboat Trials concert so many months ago.

"Guess who's here tonight?"

"Noo~ No way! Are you serious?! Chrona!" She threw her arms around him so forcefully he stumbled back a bit.

"Someone told me you liked Epiphany," he said, holding up the two tickets.

Patty squealed and hugged him again. "Come on, let's get inside!" She practically dragged him inside, handing the tickets off to the bouncer as she did so.

It was almost exactly like the last time; unbareable heat, people pushed up against eachother, the smell of sweat and overly greasy foods. This was Patty's atmoshpere. They pressed their way into the crowd from the entrance. It was once again packed to the brim and they were unable to move much from where they stood once inside the building. Patty turned just so that she was facing her boyfriend and able to look up into his dark eyes. The noise rose into cheers as the band started to play.

This first song sent the people around them into a frenzy. Despite the shaking enviroment and the music blasting barely three feet away it was a strangely serene feeling that enveloped the couple. Patty had her arms wrapped around his torso and Chrona held her close against him as lyrics of a teenage break-up song were sang over them. They wouldn't hear a word of it though. The world was completely blocked out as the heat of their bodies over came the moist air of the club. Patty looked up into Chrona's eyes, there they met and held. She leaned forward, just slightly rising on her toes to push her lips into his, then smiled.

"This is my favorite birthday present," she whispered into the kiss.

"I actually have one more thing for you," he whispered back.

Neither could hear a word the other said, but they could feel the breath and vibration of each word on their lips. Yeah, they were that good. Chrona went into his pocket and retrieved the ring box from his pocket. He pulled out of the kiss but only enough to see her face, and handed it to her. Patty gasped as she took it from him and opened it, her expression changing completely. He read the surprise on her face and smiled.

"Chrona!" she said wordlessly. She took it out and slipped it on. "It's perfect~"

Patty held her hand up next to his face to see it. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him fiercely on the lips. The sounds of the club had all but drained out by now and they weren't even paying attention. Honestly, Patty had forgotten all about the band playing being one of her favorites once he started to hold her. She wanted nothing more than to get out of there to somewhere more solitary.

"Can we get out of here?" she aksed against his lips, looking him in the eyes.

They fought their way out of the entrance and back into the night stricken city. Patty stopped only a moment to gaze up at the grinning moon as blood ran out the corner of it's mouth. She grinned back then proceeded to followed Chrona to his apartment.

"That's was an amazing night," Patty said as she walked next to him swinging their clasped hands. "I'll be sure to tell the others I went to a concert tonight."

"As opposed to what?" Chrona questioned.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "If we go home now and just end up watching action movies all night Liz would be super mad."

"Oh, yeah," he chuckled. "And if we decided to do something else?"

Patty glanced up at him, her eyebrow raised. "Oh no, we'll definently be watching movies all night," she clarified with a nod.

"Yeah, sorry," Chrona laughed nervously.

Patty stopped him in a spot of moonlight and turned to face him. "This really has been an amazing night Chrona, thank you."

"You're welcome," he replied softly.

"And you have to stop hanging out with Soul and BlackStar. They're corrupting you."

She planted a quick kiss on his lips then continued to walk with her arms around him. This is what she wanted all along. Her prince had been strong and willing, but also gentle and understanding. What she wanted all along was a pink haired, black blooded man with an affinity for making anything hard to deal with. Chrona Gorgon was her black blooded prince.

* * *

Thank you all who have supported my story with reviews and views and follows and everything! I appreciate all of you!

*The oneshots will be coming up later for each pairing! :3*


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